Title
Posttranscriptional regulation of BK channel splice variant stability by miR-9 underlies neuroadaptation to alcohol
UMMS Affiliation
Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry; Treistman Lab; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience Program
Publication Date
2008-08-01
Document Type
Article
Subjects
Adaptation, Physiological; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Cell Line; Cells, Cultured; Ethanol; Humans; Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium; Channels; MicroRNAs; Neurons; Protein Processing, Post-Translational; RNA Splicing; RNA Stability; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Disciplines
Neuroscience and Neurobiology
Abstract
Tolerance represents a critical component of addiction. The large-conductance calcium- and voltage-activated potassium channel (BK) is a well-established alcohol target, and an important element in behavioral and molecular alcohol tolerance. We tested whether microRNA, a newly discovered class of gene expression regulators, plays a role in the development of tolerance. We show that in adult mammalian brain, alcohol upregulates microRNA miR-9 and mediates posttranscriptional reorganization in BK mRNA splice variants by miR-9-dependent destabilization of BK mRNAs containing 3'UTRs with a miR-9 Recognition Element (MRE). Different splice variants encode BK isoforms with different alcohol sensitivities. Computational modeling indicates that this miR-9-dependent mechanism contributes to alcohol tolerance. Moreover, this mechanism can be extended to include regulation of additional miR-9 targets relevant to alcohol abuse. Our results describe a mechanism of multiplex regulation of stability of alternatively spliced mRNA by microRNA in drug adaptation and neuronal plasticity.
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/j.neuron.2008.05.032
Source
Neuron. 2008 Jul 31;59(2):274-87. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Neuron
Related Resources
PubMed ID
18667155
Repository Citation
Pietrzykowski, Andrzej Z.; Friesen, Ryan M.; Martin, Gilles E.; Puig, Sylvie I.; Nowak, Cheryl L.; Wynne, Patricia M.; Siegelmann, Hava T.; and Treistman, Steven N., "Posttranscriptional regulation of BK channel splice variant stability by miR-9 underlies neuroadaptation to alcohol" (2008). Open Access Articles. 2013.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/2013
Comments
Co-author Patricia M. Wynne is a student in the Neuroscience program in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at UMass Medical School.