Frontiers in Psychiatry (Jul 2013)

Therapeutic action of fluoxetine is associated with a reduction in prefrontal cortical miR-1971 expression levels in a mouse model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

  • Ulrike eSchmidt,
  • Leonie eHerrmann,
  • Kathrin eHagl,
  • Bozidar eNovak,
  • Christine eHuber,
  • Florian eHolsboer,
  • Carsten T. Wotjak,
  • Dominik R. Buell

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00066
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4

Abstract

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MicroRNAs (miRNA) are a class of small noncoding RNAs that have recently emerged as epigenetic modulators of gene expression in psychiatric diseases like schizophrenia and major depression. So far, miRNAs have neither been studied in patients suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) nor in PTSD animal models. Here, we present the first study exploring the connection between miRNAs and PTSD. Employing our previously established PTSD mouse model, we assessed miRNA profiles in prefrontal cortices (PFCs) dissected from either fluoxetine or control-treated wildtype C57BL/6N mice 74 days after their subjection to either a single traumatic electric footshock or mock-treatment. Fluoxetine is an antidepressant known to be effective both in PTSD patients and in mice suffering from a PTSD-like syndrome. Screening for differences in the relative expression levels of all potential miRNA target sequences of miRBase 18.0 by pairwise comparison of the PFC miRNA profiles of the four mouse groups mentioned resulted in identification of five miRNA candidate molecules. Validation of these miRNA candidates by reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) revealed that the therapeutic action of fluoxetine in shocked mice is associated with a significant reduction in mmu-miR-1971 expression. Furthermore, our findings suggest that traumatic stress and fluoxetine interact to cause distinct alterations in the mouse PFC miRNA signature in the long-term.

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