The DEAH-box helicase DHX36 mediates dendritic localization of the neuronal precursor-microRNA-134
- Silvia Bicker1,
- Sharof Khudayberdiev1,
- Kerstin Weiß1,
- Kathleen Zocher1,
- Stefan Baumeister2 and
- Gerhard Schratt1,3
- 1Institut für Physiologische Chemie, Biochemisch-Pharmakologisches Centrum Marburg, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany;
- 2Fachbereich Biologie-Protein Analytik, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany
Abstract
Specific microRNAs (miRNAs), including miR-134, localize to neuronal dendrites, where they control synaptic protein synthesis and plasticity. However, the mechanism of miRNA transport is unknown. We found that the neuronal precursor-miRNA-134 (pre-miR-134) accumulates in dendrites of hippocampal neurons and at synapses in vivo. Dendritic localization of pre-miR-134 is mediated by the DEAH-box helicase DHX36, which directly associates with the pre-miR-134 terminal loop. DHX36 function is required for miR-134-dependent inhibition of target gene expression and the control of dendritic spine size. Dendritically localized pre-miR-134 could provide a local source of miR-134 that can be mobilized in an activity-dependent manner during plasticity.
Keywords
Footnotes
-
↵3 Corresponding author
E-mail gerhard.schratt{at}staff.uni-marburg.de
-
Supplemental material is available for this article.
-
Article is online at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.211243.112.
- Received November 30, 2012.
- Accepted April 5, 2013.
- Copyright © 2013 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press