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Transcriptome analysis of long non‐coding RNA s of the nucleus accumbens in cocaine‐conditioned mice
Author(s) -
Bu Qian,
Hu Zhengtao,
Chen Feng,
Zhu Ruiming,
Deng Yi,
Shao Xue,
Li Yan,
Zhao Jinxuan,
Li Hongyu,
Zhang Baolai,
Lv Lei,
Yan Guangyan,
Zhao Yinglan,
Cen Xiaobo
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/jnc.12006
Subject(s) - nucleus accumbens , transcriptome , coding (social sciences) , neuroscience , nucleus , long non coding rna , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , rna , gene , genetics , gene expression , central nervous system , statistics , mathematics
Abstract Cocaine dependence involves in the brain's reward circuit as well as nucleus accumbens (NAc), a key region of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. Many studies have documented altered expression of genes and identified transcription factor networks and epigenetic processes that are fundamental to cocaine addiction. However, all these investigations have focused on mRNA of encoding genes, which may not always reflect the involvement of long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which has been implied in a broad range of biological processes and complex diseases including brain development and neuropathological process. To explore the potential involvement of lncRNAs in drug addiction, which is viewed as a form of aberrant neuroplasticity, we used a custom‐designed microarray to examine the expression profiles of mRNA s and lncRNAs in brain NAc of cocaine‐conditioned mice and identified 764 mRNA s, and 603 lncRNAs were differentially expressed. Candidate lncRNAs were identified for further genomic context characterization as sense‐overlap, antisense‐overlap, intergenic, bidirection, and ultra‐conserved region encoding lncRNAs. We found that 410 candidate lncRNAs which have been reported to act in cis or trans to their targeted loci, providing 48 pair mRNA ‐lncRNAs. These results suggest that the modification of mRNA s expression by cocaine may be associated with the actions of lncRNAs. Taken together, our results show that cocaine can cause the genome‐wide alterations of lncRNAs expressed in NAc, and some of these modified RNA transcripts may to play a role in cocaine‐induced neural plasticity and addiction .