MicroRNA-375 Is Induced during Astrocyte-to-Neuron Reprogramming and Promotes Survival of Reprogrammed Neurons when Overexpressed.

ABSTRACT: While astrocyte-to-neuron (AtN) reprogramming holds great promise in regenerative medicine, the molecular mechanisms that govern this unique biological process remain elusive. To understand the function of miRNAs during the AtN reprogramming process, we performed RNA-seq of both mRNAs and miRNAs on human astrocyte (HA) cultures upon NeuroD1 overexpression. Bioinformatics analyses showed that NeuroD1 not only activated essential neuronal genes to initiate the reprogramming process but also induced miRNA changes in HA. Among the upregulated miRNAs, we identified miR-375 and its targets, neuronal ELAVL genes (nELAVLs), which encode a family of RNA-binding proteins and were also upregulated by NeuroD1. We further showed that manipulating the miR-375 level regulated nELAVLs' expression during N

SUBMITTER: Chen X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10486704 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature