17 Mustafin, R.N. microRNA polymorphisms predisposition retroelements schizophrenia epigenetic factors Scopus Белый список 2025 2026-06-18 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2504314 OBM NEUROBIOLOGY Schizophrenia is a multifactorial mental disorder associated with multiple SNPs in the human genome, located mainly outside the annotated protein-coding genes. These regions contain a large number of retroelements, which drive epigenetic regulation. Therefore, it is suggested that schizophrenia-associated SNPs exert their influence on the pathological functioning and activation of retroelements, which contribute to epigenetic imbalance in the brain with the development of pathological processes. A reflection of these changes is a shift in the expression of specific microRNAs, including those arising from retroelements and those that interact with them. Such microRNA changes disrupt the regulation of proteincoding genes in the brain. Retroelement expression products, both transcripts and proteins, drive immunopathological reactions in the brain that lead to inflammation. As a result, patients with schizophrenia develop progressive clinical symptoms. In addition, insertions of activated retroelements can disrupt gene regulation in the brain. An analysis of scientific literature was conducted, which presents data from experimental and clinical studies on the increased activity of HERV, LINE, and Alu retroelements in the brain in schizophrenia. Moreover, to prove the impact of these changes on the epigenetic imbalance in schizophrenia, 19 retroelement-derived microRNAs whose expression is impaired in the disease are described. The obtained results may form the basis for targeted therapy of schizophrenia using the described microRNAs as tools and targets for intervention. https://repo.bashgmu.ru/publication/5534 https://repo.bashgmu.ru/files/5728