Stress induces region specific alterations in microRNAs expression in mice

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2009.11.012

Behavioural Brain Research

Volume 208, Issue 1, 17 March 2010, Pages 265-269

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2009.11.012 Get rights and content

Abstract

Several studies have demonstrated that exposure to both acute and chronic aversive stimuli can affect neural activity in different brain areas. In particular it has been shown that stressful events can induce not only short-term changes in neural transmission and gene regulation, but also long-term changes that can lead to structural modification. In this study we investigated, in CD1 mice, the effects of single or repeated exposures to restraint stress (2 h for 1 or 5 consecutive days) in the frontal cortex on a crucial class of gene expression regulators, the microRNAs (miRs).First we performed a microarray profiling on RNA extracted from the frontal cortex of mice exposed to acute or repeated restraint stress. The results indicated a prominent increase in the expression levels of different miRs after acute stress while only minor changes were observed after repeated restraint. The Northern blot analysis on selected miRs confirmed an increase after acute restraint for let-7a, miR-9 and miR 26-a/b. Finally, Northern blot analysis of the selected miRs on RNA extracted from the hippocampus of stressed mice demonstrated that such changes were region specific, as no differences were observed in the hippocampus. These data suggest that control of mRNA translation through miRs is an additional mechanism by which stressful events regulates protein expression in the frontal cortex.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank C. Mannironi and M.E. De Stefano for the useful discussion and the comments on a draft of the manuscript. The present study has been supported by P.R.I.N. grants from M.I.U.R. (to A.O. to A.M.), grants DCMC and SaC from A.S.I. (to A.O. and A.M.) and a RSTL grant from CNR (to P.F.).

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¹: Present address: Centre for Integrative Physiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

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Short communicationStress induces region specific alterations in microRNAs expression in mice

Abstract

Section snippets

Acknowledgements

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Ageing Res Rev

Short communication
Stress induces region specific alterations in microRNAs expression in mice