Contribution of brain-specific miRs in the neuronal and glial function and possible transmission of miRs between cells.

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25640019
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Neurophysiology / General neuroscience
• Research Institution: National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: NUMAKAWA Tadahiro 独立行政法人国立精神・神経医療研究センター, 神経研究所 疾病研究第三部, 客員研究員 (40425690)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): HASHIDO Kazuo 独立行政法人国立精神・神経医療研究センター, 神経研究所 ラジオアイソトープ管理室, 室長 (70270650)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: microRNA / 神経伝達 / 神経栄養因子

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It has been suggested that changed blood level of miRs is beneficial biomarker of diseases including brain dysfunction. In this study, we examined function of brain-specific miRs in the neuronal and glial system, and a possibility of miR transmission among cells. We found that upregulation of several brain-specific miRs in exosome released from cultured cortical neurons after application of BDNF, which is essential growth factor for neural function in the central nervous system neurons. On the other hand, bFGF, which is involved in glial survival and differentiation, increased the levels of miR-134. Furthermore, we found that the bFGF/miR-134 system is important for maturation of astroglia, including upregulation of glutamate transporter.

Free Research Field

神経科学