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Full-Text Articles in Biochemistry

Rnai Screen Indicates Widespread Biological Function For Human Natural Antisense Transcripts, Mohammad A. Faghihi, Jannet Kocerha, F. Modarresi, P. G. Engstrom, A. M. Chalk, S. P. Brothers, E. Koesema, G. St. Laurent, Claes Wahlestedt Oct 2010

Rnai Screen Indicates Widespread Biological Function For Human Natural Antisense Transcripts, Mohammad A. Faghihi, Jannet Kocerha, F. Modarresi, P. G. Engstrom, A. M. Chalk, S. P. Brothers, E. Koesema, G. St. Laurent, Claes Wahlestedt

Jannet Kocerha

Natural antisense transcripts represent a class of regulatory RNA molecules, which are characterized by their complementary sequence to another RNA transcript. Extensive sequencing efforts suggest that natural antisense transcripts are prevalent throughout the mammalian genome; however, their biological significance has not been well defined. We performed a loss-of-function RNA interference (RNAi) screen, which targeted 797 evolutionary conserved antisense transcripts, and found evidence for a regulatory role for a number of natural antisense transcripts. Specifically, we found that natural antisense transcripts for CCPG1 and RAPGEF3 may functionally disrupt signaling pathways and corresponding biological phenotypes, such as cell viability, either independently or …


Striatal Microrna Controls Cocaine Intake Through Creb Signalling, Jonathan A. Hollander, Heh-In Im, Antonio L. Amelio, Jannet Kocerha, Purva Bali, Qun Lu, David Willoughby, Claes Wahlestedt, Michael D. Conkright, Paul J. Kenny Jul 2010

Striatal Microrna Controls Cocaine Intake Through Creb Signalling, Jonathan A. Hollander, Heh-In Im, Antonio L. Amelio, Jannet Kocerha, Purva Bali, Qun Lu, David Willoughby, Claes Wahlestedt, Michael D. Conkright, Paul J. Kenny

Jannet Kocerha

Cocaine addiction is characterized by a gradual loss of control over drug use, but the molecular mechanisms regulating vulnerability to this process remain unclear. Here we report that microRNA-212 (miR-212) is upregulated in the dorsal striatum of rats with a history of extended access to cocaine. Striatal miR-212 decreases responsiveness to the motivational properties of cocaine by markedly amplifying the stimulatory effects of the drug on cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) signalling. This action occurs through miR-212-enhanced Raf1 activity, resulting in adenylyl cyclase sensitization and increased expression of the essential CREB co-activator TORC (transducer of regulated CREB; also known …


De Novo Truncating Fus Gene Mutation As A Cause Of Sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Mariely Dejesus-Hernandez, Jannet Kocerha, Nicole Finch, Richard Crook, Matt Baker, Pamela Desaro, Amelia Johnston, Nicola Rutherford, Aleksandra Wojtas May 2010

De Novo Truncating Fus Gene Mutation As A Cause Of Sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Mariely Dejesus-Hernandez, Jannet Kocerha, Nicole Finch, Richard Crook, Matt Baker, Pamela Desaro, Amelia Johnston, Nicola Rutherford, Aleksandra Wojtas

Jannet Kocerha

Mutations in the gene encoding fused in sarcoma (FUS) were recently identified as a novel cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), emphasizing the genetic heterogeneity of ALS. We sequenced the genes encoding superoxide dismutase (SOD1), TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TARDBP) and FUS in 99 sporadic and 17 familial ALS patients ascertained at Mayo Clinic. We identified two novel mutations in FUS in two out of 99 (2.0%) sporadic ALS patients and established the de novo occurrence of one FUS mutation. In familial patients, we identified three (17.6%) SOD1 mutations, while FUS and TARDBP mutations were excluded. The de novo FUS …