Roles of lncLingo2 and its derived miR‐876‐5p in the acquisition of opioid reinforcement

Abstract

Recent studies found that non‐coding RNAs (ncRNAs) played crucial roles in drug addiction through epigenetic regulation of gene expression and underlying drug‐induced neuroadaptations. In this study, we characterized lncRNA transcriptome profiles in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of mice exhibiting morphine‐conditioned place preference (CPP) and explored the prospective roles of novel differentially expressed lncRNA, lncLingo2 and its derived miR‐876‐5p in the acquisition of opioids‐associated behaviours. We found that the lncLingo2 was downregulated within the NAc core (NAcC) but not in the NAc shell (NAcS). This downregulation was found to be associated with the development of morphine CPP and heroin intravenous self‐administration (IVSA). As Mfold software revealed that the secondary structures of lncLingo2 contained the sequence of pre‐miR‐876, transfection of LV‐lncLingo2 into HEK293 cells significantly upregulated miR‐876 expression and the changes of mature miR‐876 are positively correlated with lncLingo2 expression in NAcC of morphine CPP trained mice. Delivering miR‐876‐5p mimics into NAcC also inhibited the acquisition of morphine CPP. Furthermore, bioinformatics analysis and dual‐luciferase assay confirmed that miR‐876‐5p binds to its target gene, Kcnn3, selectively and regulates morphine CPP training‐induced alteration of Kcnn3 expression. Lastly, the electrophysiological analysis indicated that the currents of small conductance calcium‐activated potassium (SK) channel was increased, which led to low neuronal excitability in NAcC after CPP training, and these changes were reversed by lncLingo2 overexpression. Collectively, lncLingo2 may function as a precursor of miR‐876‐5p in NAcC, hence modulating the development of opioid‐associated behaviours in mice, which may serve as an underlying biomarker and therapeutic target of opioid addiction.