Natural antisense transcripts are co-expressed with sense mRNAs in synaptoneurosomes of adult mouse forebrain

Abstract

Natural antisense transcripts and overlapping sense transcripts are expressed in a variety of tissues, including adult mouse brain. Here we show that a subset of mRNA-like sense-antisense transcript pairs are co-expressed within synaptoneurosomes of adult mouse forebrain, a subcellular fraction that is enriched in pinched-off dendritic spines of pyramidal neurons. Several of these pairs involve mRNAs that have been implicated in synaptic functions and in Alzheimer disease pathways. This study provides evidence that a new class of noncoding RNAs (natural antisense transcripts) are expressed near synapses, and encourages further studies of their roles in neuronal function.

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“…Furthermore, analysis of a subset of these lncRNA -proteincoding gene pairs revealed co-expression in the same specific brain regions consistent with cross-talk between coding and non-coding transcripts arising from the same loci [24]. Similarly, many overlapping sense mRNA-antisense lncRNA pairs are co-expressed and specifically localized to synaptoneurosomes (specialized structures enriched at the pinched-off dendritic spines of pyramidal neurons) in the adult mouse forebrain [25]. Some of these mRNAs have known roles in synaptogenesis (e.g.…”