Mapping microRNA expression quantitative trait loci in the prenatal human brain implicates miR-1908-5p expression in bipolar disorder and other brain-related traits.

ABSTRACT: MicroRNA (miRNA) are small non-coding RNA involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Given their known involvement in early neurodevelopment processes, we here sought to identify common genetic variants associated with altered miRNA expression in the prenatal human brain. We performed small RNA sequencing on brain tissue from 112 genome-wide genotyped fetuses from the second trimester of gestation, identifying high-confidence (false discovery rate < 0.05) expression quantitative trait loci for 30 mature miRNA. Integrating our findings with genome-wide association study data for brain-related disorders, we implicate increased prenatal expression of miR-1908-5p as a risk mechanism for bipolar disorder and find that predicted mRNA targets of miR-1908-5p that are expressed in the fetal

SUBMITTER: Toste CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10549788 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature