RESEARCH ARTICLE Increased processing of SINE B2 ncRNAs unveils a novel type of transcriptome deregulation in amyloid beta neuropathology Yubo Cheng1,2,3,4†, Luke Saville1,2,3,4†, Babita Gollen1,2,3,4†, Christopher Isaac1,2,3,4†, Abel Belay1,2,3,4, Jogender Mehla3, Kush Patel1,2,3, Nehal Thakor1,2,3, Majid H Mohajerani3, Athanasios Zovoilis1,2,3,4* 1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Canada; 2Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Centre, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Canada; 3Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Canada; 4Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Canada Abstract The functional importance of many non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) generated by repetitive elements and their connection with pathologic processes remains elusive. B2 RNAs, a class of ncRNAs of the B2 family of SINE repeats, mediate through their processing the transcriptional activation of various genes in response to stress. Here, we show that this response is dysfunctional during amyloid beta toxicity and pathology in the mouse hippocampus due to increased levels of B2 RNA processing, leading to constitutively elevated B2 RNA target gene expression and high Trp53 levels. Evidence indicates that Hsf1, a master regulator of stress response, mediates B2 RNA *For correspondence: processing in hippocampal cells and is activated during amyloid toxicity, accelerating the
[email protected] processing of SINE RNAs and gene hyper-activation. Our study reveals that in mouse, SINE RNAs † constitute a novel pathway deregulated in amyloid beta pathology, with potential implications for These authors contributed equally to this work similar cases in the human brain, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD).