Emerging roles for ncRNAs in alcohol use disorders

•Advances in the previous decade have highlighted the role of non-protein-coding RNAs in the regulation of gene expression and function.•These molecules mediate diverse processes in the CNS, from normal development and physiology to regulation of disease.•Increasing evidence suggests that non-protein-coding RNAs may play a role in psychiatric disorders including alcoholism.

Chronic alcohol exposure produces widespread neuroadaptations and alterations in gene expression in human alcoholics and animal models. Technological advances in the past decade have increasingly highlighted the role of non-protein-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in the regulation of gene expression and function. These recently characterized molecules were discovered to mediate diverse processes in the central nervous system, from normal development and physiology to regulation of disease, including alcoholism and other psychiatric disorders. This review will investigate the recent studies in human alcoholics and rodent models that have profiled different classes of ncRNAs and their dynamic alcohol-dependent regulation in brain.