Abstract
Midbrain dopamine neurons (mDNs) play a central role in complex behaviors such as reward and addiction, and these cells are lost in Parkinson's disease (PD). A number of transcription factors have been implicated in the regulation of mDNs. However, the role of post-transcriptional mechanisms in mDNs, or in other post-mitotic neuron types, is relatively uncharacterized. Here we investigate the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in mDN regulation in relation to previously described transcriptional control mechanisms. miRNAs are evolutionarily conserved, 18-25 nucleotide, non-protein coding transcripts that play an important function in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression during development. In preliminary studies and a recent manuscript, we identified eight miRNA enriched in the midbrain, and one -- miR-133b -- as a mDN-enriched miRNA that appears to function within a feedback circuit with the homeodomain transcription factor Pitx3.
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Abeliovich, A. (2010). A microRNA Feedback Circuit in Midbrain Dopamine Neurons. In: De Strooper, B., Christen, Y. (eds) Macro Roles for MicroRNAs in the Life and Death of Neurons. Research and Perspectives in Neurosciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04298-0_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04298-0_4
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