CircGRIA1 shows an age-related increase in male macaque brain and regulates synaptic plasticity and synaptogenesis

作者：Kaiyu Xu, Ying Zhang, Wandi Xiong, Zhongyu Zhang, Zhengbo Wang, Longbao Lv, Chao Liu, Zhengfei Hu, Yong‐Tang Zheng, Lin Lü, Xin-Tian Hu, Jiali Li · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-020-17435-7 · 被引用次数：63 · 研究领域：Circular RNAs in diseases、MicroRNA in disease regulation、Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are abundant in mammalian brain and some show age-dependent expression patterns. Here, we report that circGRIA1, a conserved circRNA isoform derived from the genomic loci of α-mino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptor subunit Gria1, shows an age-related and male-specific increase in expression in the rhesus macaque prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. We show circGRIA1 is predominantly localized to the nucleus, and find an age-related increase in its association with the promoter region of Gria1 gene, suggesting it has a regulatory role in Gria1 transcription. In vitro and in vivo manipulation of circGRIA1 negatively regulates Gria1 mRNA and protein levels. Knockdown of circGRIA1 results in an age-related improvement of synaptogenesis, and GluR1 activity-dependent synaptic plasticity in the hippocampal neurons in males. Our findings underscore the importance of circRNA regulation and offer an insight into the biology of brain aging.