Abnormal gene expression of BDNF, but not BDNF-AS, in iPSC, neural stem cells and postmortem brain samples from bipolar disorder

Abstract

Background: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) antisense RNA (BDNF-AS) was identified as naturally conserved non-coding antisense RNA that suppresses the transcription of BDNF. Methods: We measured the expression of BDNF mRNA and BDNF-AS mRNA in iPSC and NSC from bipolar disorder (BD) patients and healthy control subjects, and postmortem brain samples such as the corpus callosum, the Brodmann area (BA8), and BA46 from BD patients and age- and sex-matched controls. Results: The expression of BDNF mRNA in iPSC from BD patients (n = 6) was significantly lower than that of control subjects (n = 4) although the expression of BDNF mRNA in NSC from BD patients was significantly higher than th..