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Tissue-specific miRNA Expression Profiling in Mouse Heart Sections Using In Situ Hybridization
Published on: September 15, 2018
MicroRNA regulation of prefrontal cortex development and psychiatric risk in adolescence
Alice Morgunova1, Cecilia Flores2
1Integrated Program in Neuroscience (IPN), McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Abstract:
In this review, we examine the role of microRNAs in the development of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in adolescence and in individual differences in vulnerability to mental illness. We describe results from clinical and preclinical research indicating that adolescence coincides with drastic changes in local microRNA expression, including microRNAs that control gene networks involved in PFC and cognitive refinement. We highlight that altered levels of microRNAs in the PFC are associated with psychopathologies of adolescent onset, notably depression and schizophrenia. We show that microRNAs can be measured non-invasively in peripheral samples and could serve as longitudinal physiological readouts of brain expression and psychiatric risk in youth.
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