MicroRNA-132 is associated with the cognition improvement following voluntary exercise in SAMP8 mice

The senescence-accelerated SAMP8 mouse is characterized by progressive cognitive decline and is considered to be a specific model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A growing body of evidence indicates that physical exercise suppresses age-related cognitive decline. In the current study, we investigated the influence of voluntary wheel running on cognitive function in SAMP8 mice. We found that voluntary physical exercise ameliorated cognition decline and suppressed hippocampal neurodegeneration in SAMP8 mice. MicroRNA-132 (miR-132) is a short non-coding RNA which is enriched in the brain and is implicated in the regulation of neuronal activity and cognitive function. Here we show that miR-132 expression was significantly increased in the hippocampus of SAMP8 mice. Voluntary physical exercise, however, suppressed the increase of miR-132 expression in SAMP8 mice. Furthermore, upregulation of hippocampal miR-132 expression exacerbates cognition decline, while downregulation of hippocampal miR-132 ameliorates cognition deficit in the SAMP8 mice. Taking together, our results suggest that miR-132 is associated with the cognition improvement following voluntary exercise in SAMP8 mice.