Peripheral blood E2F1 mRNA in depression and following electroconvulsive therapy.

The E2F transcription factors are a group of proteins that bind to the promotor region of the adenovirus E2 gene. E2F1, the first family member to be cloned, is linked to functions including cell proliferation and apoptosis, DNA repair, cell senescence and metabolism. We recently performed a deep sequencing study of micro-RNA changes in whole blood following ECT. Two micro-RNAs (miR-126-3p and miR-106a-5p) were identified and gene targeting analysis identified E2F1 as a shared target of these miRNAs. To our knowledge, no studies have examined E2F1 mRNA levels in patients with depression. Peripheral blood E2F1 mRNA levels were therefore examined in patients with depression, compared to healthy controls, and the effects of a course of ECT on peripheral blood E2F1 mRNA was investigated. Depressed patient and healthy control groups were balanced on the basis of age and sex. E2F1 mRNA levels were significantly lower in depressed patients in comparison to controls (p = .009) but did not change with ECT. There was no relationship between baseline E2F1 levels and depression severity, response to treatment, presence of psychosis or polarity of depression. There were no significant correlations between E2F1 levels and mood scores based on the HAM-D24. These results indicate that reduced peripheral blood E2F1 mRNA could be a trait feature of depression.

Dual downregulation of microRNA 17-5p and E2F1 transcriptional factor in pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus patients.

The main objective of this study is to investigate the relative expression of miRNA 17-5p and one of its target genes E2F1 in the peripheral blood of systemic lupus erythematosus pediatric patients. The expression of miRNA 17-5p and its target E2F1 mRNA was analyzed by TaqMan real-time qPCR. Our results showed significant downregulation of miRNA 17-5p in SLE patients compared to healthy controls; moreover, miRNA 17-5p was more downregulated in patients on no treatment compared to those on treatment. Relative expression of E2F1, which is a target for miRNA 17-5p, was significantly downregulated as well on both mRNA and protein levels in SLE pediatric patients. In conclusion, our data show an unexpected dual downregulation of both miRNA 17-5p and its target gene E2F1 on the mRNA and protein levels. This may suggest an expression pattern of miRNA 17-5p and its target E2F1 that may be specific to SLE. [corrected].