Browsing by Author "Zhao, Juan"

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    AZI23'UTR Is a New SLC6A3 Downregulator Associated with an Epistatic Protection Against Substance Use Disorders
    (Springer Nature, 2018-07) Liu, Kefu; Yu, Jinlong; Zhao, Juan; Zhou, Yanhong; Xiong, Nian; Xu, Jie; Wang, Tao; Bell, Richard L.; Qing, Hong; Lin, Zhicheng; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Regulated activity of SLC6A3, which encodes the human dopamine transporter (DAT), contributes to diseases such as substance abuse disorders (SUDs); however, the exact transcription mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, we used a common genetic variant of the gene, intron 1 DNP1B sequence, as bait to screen and clone a new transcriptional activity, AZI23'UTR, for SLC6A3. AZI23'UTR is a 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of the human 5-Azacytidine Induced 2 gene (AZI2) but appeared to be transcribed independently of AZI2. Found to be present in both human cell nuclei and dopamine neurons, this RNA was shown to downregulate promoter activity through a variant-dependent mechanism in vitro. Both reduced RNA density ratio of AZI23'UTR/AZI2 and increased DAT mRNA levels were found in ethanol-naive alcohol-preferring rats. Secondary analysis of dbGaP GWAS datasets (Genome-Wide Association Studies based on the database of Genotypes and Phenotypes) revealed significant interactions between regions upstream of AZI23'UTR and SLC6A3 in SUDs. Jointly, our data suggest that AZI23'UTR confers variant-dependent transcriptional regulation of SLC6A3, a potential risk factor for SUDs.
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    Epistatic evidence for gender-dependant slow neurotransmission signalling in substance use disorders: PPP1R12B versus PPP1R1B
    (Elsevier, 2020-10-21) Liu, Kefu; Zhao, Juan; Chen, Chunnuan; Xu, Jie; Bell, Richard L.; Hall, Frank S.; Koob, George F.; Volkow, Nora D.; Qing, Hong; Lin, Zhicheng; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Background Slow neurotransmission including DARPP-32 signalling is implicated in substance use disorders (SUDs) by experimental systems but not yet in the human aetiology. PPP1R12B, encoding another protein in the DARPP-32 family, hasn't been studied in the brain. Methods Brain-regional gene activity was assessed in three different animal models of SUDs for mRNA level alterations. Genetic associations were assessed by meta-analysis of pre-existing dbGaP GWAS datasets for main effects and epistasis with known genetic risks, followed by cell type-specific pathway delineation. Parkinson's disease (PD) was included as a dopamine-related disease control for SUDs. Findings In animal models of SUDs, environmentally-altered PPP1R12B expression sex-dependently involves motivation-related brain regions. In humans with polysubstance abuse, meta-analysis of pre-existing datasets revealed that PPP1R12B and PPP1R1B, although expressed in dopamine vs. dopamine-recipient neurons, exerted similar interactions with known genetic risks such as ACTR1B and DRD2 in men but with ADH1B, HGFAC and DRD3 in women. These interactions reached genome-wide significances (Pmeta<10−20) for SUDs but not for PD (disease selectivity: P = 4.8 × 10−142, OR = 6.7 for PPP1R12B; P = 8.0 × 10−8, OR = 2.1 for PPP1R1B). CADM2 was the common risk in the molecular signalling regardless of gender and cell type. Interpretation Gender-dependant slow neurotransmission may convey both genetic and environmental vulnerabilities selectively to SUDs. Funding Grants from National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of U.S.A. and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).
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    Identification of HIVEP2 as a dopaminergic transcription factor related to substance use disorders in rats and humans
    (Springer Nature, 2019-10-04) Zhao, Juan; Chen, Chunnuan; Bell, Richard L.; Qing, Hong; Lin, Zhicheng; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Playing an important role in the etiology of substance use disorder (SUD), dopamine (DA) neurons are subject to various regulations but transcriptional regulations are largely understudied. For the first time, we report here that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type I Enhancer Binding Protein 2 (HIVEP2) is a dopaminergic transcriptional regulator. HIVEP2 is expressed in both the cytoplasm and nuclei of DA neurons. Therein, HIVEP2 can target the intronic sequence GTGGCTTTCT of SLC6A3 and thereby activate the gene. In naive rats from the bi-directional selectively bred substance-preferring P vs -nonpreferring NP rat model of substance abuse vulnerability, increased gene activity in males was associated with the vulnerability, whereas decreased gene activity in the females was associated with the same vulnerability. In clinical subjects, extensive and significant HIVEP2-SLC6A3 interactions were observed for SUD. Collectively, HIVEP2-mediated transcriptional mechanisms are implicated in dopaminergic pathophysiology of SUD.