MicroRNA-124 slows down the progression of Huntington's disease by promoting neurogenesis in the striatum

Tian Liu; Wooseok Im; Inhee Mook-Jung; Manho Kim

doi:10.4103/1673-5374.156978

MicroRNA-124 slows down the progression of Huntington's disease by promoting neurogenesis in the striatum

Neural Regen Res. 2015 May;10(5):786-91. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.156978.

Authors

Tian Liu¹, Wooseok Im², Inhee Mook-Jung³, Manho Kim⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
² Department of Neurology, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
³ Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea ; Department of Biochemistry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea ; Protein Metabolism Medical Research Center, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.

Abstract

MicroRNA-124 contributes to neurogenesis through regulating its targets, but its expression both in the brain of Huntington's disease mouse models and patients is decreased. However, the effects of microRNA-124 on the progression of Huntington's disease have not been reported. Results from this study showed that microRNA-124 increased the latency to fall for each R6/2 Huntington's disease transgenic mouse in the rotarod test. 5-Bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) staining of the striatum shows an increase in neurogenesis. In addition, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha protein levels in the striatum were increased and SRY-related HMG box transcription factor 9 protein level was decreased. These findings suggest that microRNA-124 slows down the progression of Huntington's disease possibly through its important role in neuronal differentiation and survival.

Keywords: Huntington's disease; SRY-related HMG box transcription factor 9; brain-derived neurotrophic factor; peroxisome; microRNA-124; mutant huntingtin; nerve regeneration; neurogenesis; neuronal survival; proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha.