NeuroReport. 18(3):297-300, FEB 2007
DOI: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e3280148e8b
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PMID: 17314675
Issn Print: 0959-4965
Publication Date: 2007/02/01
Micro-RNA speciation in fetal, adult and Alzheimer's disease hippocampus
Walter Lukiw;
+ Author Information
LSU Neuroscience Center and Department of Ophthalmology, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA, USA
Abstract
Micro-RNAs constitute a family of small noncoding ribonucleic acids that are posttranscriptional regulators of messenger RNA activity. Although micro-RNAs are known to be dynamically regulated during neural development, the role of micro-RNAs in brain aging and neurodegeneration is not known. This study examined micro-RNA abundance in the hippocampal region of fetal, adult and Alzheimer's disease brain. The data indicate that micro-RNAs encoding miR-9, miR-124a, miR-125b, miR-128, miR-132 and miR-219 are abundantly represented in fetal hippocampus, are differentially regulated in aged brain, and an alteration in specific micro-RNA complexity occurs in Alzheimer hippocampus. These data are consistent with the idea that altered micro-RNA-mediated processing of messenger RNA populations may contribute to atypical mRNA abundance and neural dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease brain.
