Small non-coding RNA expression from anterior cingulate cortex in schizophrenia shows sex specific regulation

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known to regulate the expression of genes that are important for brain development and function, but the roles of other classes of small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) are less well understood. Additionally, although miRNA expression studies have been conducted in post-mortem brain samples from schizophrenia (SCZ) patients, other classes of sncRNAs are yet to be investigated in SCZ. We profiled the expression of miRNAs, piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) and small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) in SCZ by applying small RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) to sncRNA isolated from post-mortem anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of SCZ-affected individuals (n = 22) and matched controls (n = 22). We identified about one-third of annotated miRNAs, one-quarter of snoRNAs and a small proportion of piRNAs and snRNAs. No sncRNAs were significantly differentially expressed between SCZ and controls, but there was evidence for an interaction between disease status and sex on the expression level of a number of miRNAs and snoRNAs. Many of these transcripts exhibited differential expression between male and female cases, and/or between female cases and controls, suggesting sex based dysregulation in ACC of SCZ. These findings require replication in an independent sample, but our study provides further insights into the potential involvement of sncRNAs in brain function and SCZ.