苯丙胺类兴奋剂(amphetamine-type stimulants,ATS)是一组以精神依赖为主的新型合成毒品,近年来流行,滥用趋势愈发严峻.MicroRNAs(MiRNAs)作为一类非编码小分子RNAs,通过与靶基因mRNA的互补配对,在转录后水平上对基因的表达进行负调控,从而导致靶基因mRNA的降解或翻译抑制.ATS能诱导miRNAs表达水平的变化,而成瘾相关脑区miRNAs表达的改变直接参与了对ATS成瘾行为的调节.因此,研究miRNAs在ATS成瘾中的调控作用,对进一步揭示新型毒品的成瘾机制及发现新的药物作用靶点具有重要意义。
Amphetamine-type stimulants ( ATS ) , a group of new-type synthetic drugs mainly in psychological dependence, are abused more and more severely in recent years. MicroRNAs ( MiRNAs ) are an important class of endogenous non-coding small RNAs that mediate posttranscriptional negatively regulation of gene expression by targeting specific mRNA sequences to in-hibit the translation of mRNAs or degrade the expression of mR-NAs. ATS can induce the changes in the expression of miRNAs in addiction-related brain regions which directly involve in the regulation of ATS-induced addictive behaviors. Therefore, to study the regulatory role of miRNAs in ATS-induced addiction has important implications for dependent mechanisms of new-type drugs and the discovery of the new targets of drug actions.