title: MALAT-1, a non protein-coding RNA is upregulated in the cerebellum, hippocampus and brain stem of human alcoholics.
abstract: Chronic alcohol intake induces neurochemical adaptative changes in the brain characterised by altered gene expression. A role for non-coding RNAs in alcoholism is beginning to emerge. PCR-differential display using total RNA extracted from brain material of human alcoholics and control cases identified a cDNA fragment corresponding to a section of a known non protein-coding RNA (ncRNA), MALAT-1, (also known as NEAT2). Comparison of mRNA levels of MALAT-1 was performed by northern and dot blot experiments using different regions of brain from human alcoholics and rats chronically treated with ethanol vapours and following withdrawal. A massive increase of MALAT-1 transcripts was detected in cerebellum of human alcoholics and increases were also noted in hippocampus and brain stem, while no significant increase of MALAT-1 expression was noted in frontal or motor cortices. In the rat no significant difference of MALAT-1 ortholog mRNA could be detected in cerebellum. In addition, similarly to humans, no significant increase of MALAT-1 expression was detected in cortex of alcohol-treated rats, however, after 24 h alcohol withdrawal, a significant upregulation of MALAT-1 expression was observed in rat cortex. MALAT-1 is upregulated in specific regions of the human alcoholic brain and following alcohol withdrawal in the rat. As MALAT-1 regulates RNA processing, this suggests that alcohol-induced upregulation of MALAT-1 represents an important novel mechanism for alcohol actions in the CNS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, School of Chemistry & Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia. rosemarie.kryger@uqconnect.edu.au
authors.forename: Rosemarie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kryger
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Wilce
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jaquet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020751:Alcohol-Induced Disorders / Q000235:genetics; D057229:Alcoholics; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding / Q000032:analysis*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000235:genetics; D013997:Time Factors; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: C557041:MALAT1 long non-coding RNA, human; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; D000431:Ethanol