Genome-wide analyses indirectly implicate miRNA regulatory mechanisms in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder psychopathology

ABSTRACT Background MiRNAs are small, noncoding RNAs possessing the potential to modulate gene expression upon binding to their target messenger RNA (mRNA) constructs, and are known to play a role in the pathogenesis of a range of psychiatric disorders. To date, little work has focused on the role of miRNAs in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The aim of this study was to assess the potential involvement of miRNAs in OCD psychopathology. Methods The most significant variants (p ≤ 1×10 −4 ) from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) TS/OCD Workgroup OCD meta-analysis were selected and investigated using miRBASE, TargetScan and SNPnexus to determine whether they influence miRNA- mediated regulation in the clinical manifestation of OCD. Results Two-hundred and forty SNPs were identified from the PGC OCD summarystatistics, of which none were found to directly alter miRNA-related gene regulation using in silico analyses. Enrichment analyses identified several potential indirect miRNA-mediated targets associated with both increased ( ITPR3 : mir-124A) and decreased risk ( GPR109A : mir-520A, and mir-525; CGNL1 : mir-98 and mir-219). Conclusion miRNA-mediated regulation was indirectly implicated in the psychopathology of OCD. Enrichment analyses implicates intracellular calcium and immune dysregulation in the clinical manifestation of the disorder and warrants further investigation of the role the immune system may play in the manifestation of disease.