Molecular mechanism for stress-induced depression assessed by sequencing miRNA and mRNA in medial prefrontal cortex (mRNA)

Major depressive disorder is a common mood disorder. Chronic stressful life is presumably main etiology that leads to the neuron and synapse atrophies in the limbic system. However, the intermediate molecules from stress to neural atrophy remain elusive. Mice were treated by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) until demonstrating depression-like behaviors confirmed by the tests of sucrose preference, forced swimming and Y-maze. The sequencings of microRNA and mRNA from the medial prefrontal cortices were performed in CUMS-induced depression mice versus control mice to assess the molecular profiles of major depressive disorder. In the medial prefrontal cortices of depression-like mice, the levels of mRNAs that translated the proteins for the GABAergic synapses, dopaminergic synapses, myelination, synaptic vesicle cycle and neuronal growth were downregulated. miRNAs of regulating these mRNAs are upregulated. The deterioration of GABAergic and dopaminergic synapses as well as axonal growth is associated to CUMS-induced depression. Overall design: The sequencings of mRNA from the medial prefrontal cortices were performed in CUMS-induced depression mice(n=2) versus control (n=2)

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Ma K, Guo L, Xu A, Cui S, Wang JH