What is it about?
Down syndrome or trisomy 21 is the result of a genetic dosage imbalance. A major challenge is the identification of functional genetic elements with wide impact on phenotypic alterations. Recently, miRNAs have been recognized as major contributors to several disease conditions by acting as post-transcriptional regulators of a plethora of genes. We studied in the contribution of miR-155 and miR-802 in brain of trisomic Ts65Dn mouse .
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Why is it important?
Our findings show relevant miRNA target genes within a tissue. Thus, the results obtained reveal that over-expression of miR-155 and miR-802 caused by the trisomy of chromosome 21 can trigger an imbalance in the post-transcriptional regulation of genome-wide genes. Moreover, the subset of genes validated show a clear impact on the regulation of neuronal physiology functions and establishes a link with other neuronal diseases such as Alzheimer disease.
Perspectives
The present study establishes a link between overexpression of miR-155 and miR-802 and downregulation of a new set of candidate genes with potential contribution to DS neuronal function. The miRNA sponge developed strategy provides a useful tool for the identification of subtle transcriptomic changes, often masked for interindividual variability. These results also highlight that DS hippocampal-dependent phenotypes have connections with alterations present in neurological-associated diseases such as Alzheimer and suggests that modulation of miRNAs could be envisioned as a novel pharmacotherapy approach in DS.
Dr Xavier Bofill De Ros
NCI at Frederick
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Genome-wide miR-155 and miR-802 target gene identification in the hippocampus of Ts65Dn Down syndrome mouse model by miRNA sponges, BMC Genomics, November 2015, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1186/s12864-015-2160-6.
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