Non-coding RNA Called Evf2 Is Important For Gene Regulation

ScienceDaily (Sep. 1, 2009) — Can mental disorders result from altered non-coding RNA-dependent gene regulation during embryonic development? This is a question posed by Jhumku Kohtz, PhD, of Children's Memorial Research Center. Kohtz, along with her laboratory and colleagues at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, has published research in the August issue of Nature Neuroscience that finds for the first time that a non-coding RNA (ncRNA) called Evf2 is important for gene regulation and the development of interneurons that produce GABA, the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain.

The absence or reduction of GABA is implicated in different psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, Tourette's syndrome, epilepsy, and Rett syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder.

Until this paper, it had not been known how long ncRNAs function during neural development, or whether subtle effects on gene regulation in the embryo could last through adulthood. Kohtz and colleagues show that the Evf2 RNA controls gene expression in a region of the developing brain that is the source of GABAergic interneurons, which are known to migrate to adult brain regions involved in higher functions like learning and memory.

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