MicroRNA-9 controls dendritic development by targeting REST

GIUSTI SA,; VOGL AM,; BROCKMANN M; VERCELLI CA,; REIN T,; TRUMBACH D; WURST W,; CAZALLA D; STEIN V,; DEUSSING JM,; REFOJO D,

elife

eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

Año: 2014 vol. 3

2050-084X

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are conserved noncoding RNAs that function as posttranscriptionalregulators of gene expression. miR-9 is one of the most abundant miRNAs in the brain. Althoughthe function of miR-9 has been well characterized in neural progenitors, its role in dendritic andsynaptic development remains largely unknown. In order to target miR-9 in vivo, we developed atransgenic miRNA sponge mouse line allowing conditional inactivation of the miR-9 family in aspatio-temporal-controlled manner. Using this novel approach, we found that miR-9 controls dendriticgrowth and synaptic transmission in vivo. Furthermore, we demonstrate that miR-9-mediateddownregulation of the transcriptional repressor REST is essential for proper dendritic growth.