Commentary on the study of Roy et al. Amygdala based altered mir-128-3p in conferring susceptibility to depression-like behavior via Wnt signaling

The study of Roy and colleagues, recently accepted for publication on Int J Neuropsychopharmacol is a very interesting report investigating the role of specific microRNAs (miRNAs) in vulnerability or resistance to major depressive disorder (MDD) in a specific brain region (e.g., amygdala). MiRNAs may act as a mega controller of gene expression being involved in the pathogenesis of major neuropsychiatric conditions. Interestingly, some of the altered miRNAs (e.g., hsa-miR-425-3p, miR-425, miR-674-3p, and miR-873-3p) identified in this study were found to be dysregulated even in existing studies but several methodological issues may hamper the translation of basic research findings in clinical studies. MiRNAs are proposed as possible biomarkers of disease and treatment response to disentangle the biological complexity underlying major affective disorders. The main implications regarding the present findings are discussed.