title: MicroRNA dysregulation in neuropsychiatric disorders and cognitive dysfunction.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNA), a class of non-coding RNAs, are emerging as important modulators of neuronal development, structure and function. A connection has been established between abnormalities in miRNA expression and miRNA-mediated gene regulation and psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders as well as cognitive dysfunction. Establishment of this connection has been driven by progress in elucidating the genetic etiology of these phenotypes and has provided a context to interpret additional supporting evidence accumulating from parallel expression profiling studies in brains and peripheral blood of patients. Here we review relevant evidence that supports this connection and explore possible mechanisms that underlie the contribution of individual miRNAs and miRNA-related pathways to the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of these complex clinical phenotypes. The existing evidence provides useful hypotheses for further investigation as well as important clues for identifying novel therapeutic targets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Pei-Ken
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karayiorgou
authors.forename: Joseph A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gogos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000502:physiology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs