Molecular decoding of post traumatic stress disorder via time-resolved measurement of newly synthesized and existing RNA

Abstract

A variety of accidents can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Experiences that cause extreme shocks cause not only cognitive distortion but also long-term biochemical, functional, and structural changes in the brain causing difficulties in major cognitive functions such as concentration, memory, and attention deficit. However, the understanding of molecular mechanisms at the cellular and biological level of cognitive dysfunction in PTSD is limited. Identifying the transcriptional signature after the fear conditioning will allow us to decode the molecular signatures associated with PTSD. We applied SLAMseq (thiol-linked alkylation for the metabolic sequencing of RNA) approaches for the time-resolved measurement of newly synthesized and existing RNA in neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells. We aim to decode molecular signature in genetic PTSD animal models at neural circuit- and single cell-level.