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Background

There are currently only very few efficacious drug treatments for SCZ and BD, none of which target and improve cognitive symptoms. Thus, there is an emerging need to develop novel therapeutics targeting molecular pathways linked to cognitive function and antipsychotic treatment. Circular RNAs are stable non-coding RNAs, circHomer1 is a neuronal-enriched, activity-dependent circRNA, derived from the precursor of the long HOMER1B mRNA isoform, which is abundantly expressed in the adult frontal cortex and significantly downregulated in the prefrontal cortex of subjects with psychosis. Even though its relevance to psychiatric disorders and its role in cognition has been established, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that underlie circHomer1 biogenesis in response to neuronal activity and psychiatric drug treatment.

Methods