The miRNome of Depression

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 22; no. 21; p. 11312
• Main Authors: Żurawek, Dariusz, Turecki, Gustavo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 20.10.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Animals; antidepressant treatment; Antidepressants; Biological Evolution; biomarker; Biomarkers; Biosynthesis; Brain research; Cellular stress response; depression; Depression - genetics; Depressive Disorder, Major - genetics; Drugs; Enzymes; Epigenesis, Genetic - genetics; Epigenetics; Gene expression; Gene Expression - genetics; Gene Expression Profiling - methods; Gene Expression Regulation - genetics; Genomes; human brain; Humans; Low level; Mammals; Mental depression; microRNA; MicroRNAs; MicroRNAs - genetics; miRNA; miRNome; Multifactorial Inheritance - genetics; Nucleotides; Phenotypes; Post-transcription; Proteins; Review; RNA Interference - physiology; RNA-mediated interference; Transcriptome - genetics; antidepressant treatment; microRNA; human brain; miRNome; depression; biomarker
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms222111312

Depression is an effect of complex interactions between genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors. It is well established that stress responses are associated with multiple modest and often dynamic molecular changes in the homeostatic balance, rather than with a single genetic factor that has a strong phenotypic penetration. As depression is a multifaceted phenotype, it is important to study biochemical pathways that can regulate the overall allostasis of the brain. One such biological system that has the potential to fine-tune a multitude of diverse molecular processes is RNA interference (RNAi). RNAi is an epigenetic process showing a very low level of evolutionary diversity, and relies on the posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression using, in the case of mammals, primarily short (17-23 nucleotides) noncoding RNA transcripts called microRNAs (miRNA). In this review, our objective was to examine, summarize and discuss recent advances in the field of biomedical and clinical research on the role of miRNA-mediated regulation of gene expression in the development of depression. We focused on studies investigating post-mortem brain tissue of individuals with depression, as well as research aiming to elucidate the biomarker potential of miRNAs in depression and antidepressant response.