miRNA expression of whole hippocampus 24hr post-injury in rat

Traumatic brain injury dysregulates microRNA expression in the brain. We hypothesized that injury-induced epigenetic changes contribute to neurodegeneration and learning and memory deficits after TBI. These changes may provide a mechanistic explanation for neuropsychiatric comorbidities in TBI patients. Our objective is to compare and contrast the effects of several neuroprotective drugs (JM6, PMI-006 and E33-estrogen) on the TBI-induced changes in microRNA expression in the hippocampus, a region of the brain that is critical for learning and memory. We will also study if different neuroprotective drugs have similar effects on common microRNAs which may cooperatively regulate a common set of gene targets.创伤性脑损伤（Traumatic Brain Injury，TBI）会异常调控大脑内微小RNA（microRNA）的表达水平。本研究假设，损伤诱导的表观遗传改变会导致TBI后出现神经退行性病变以及学习记忆障碍。这类改变或许可为TBI患者的神经精神共病问题提供机制层面的合理解释。本研究的核心目标为对比分析数种神经保护药物（JM6、PMI-006与E33-雌激素）对TBI诱导的海马体（hippocampus）微小RNA表达改变的影响；海马体是大脑中对学习记忆功能至关重要的脑区。本研究同时将探究，不同神经保护药物对共同微小RNA的影响是否具有一致性——这类共同微小RNA可协同调控一组共同的基因靶标。