Post-Transcriptional Mechanisms of Neuronal Translational Control in Synaptic Plasticity

The dynamic complexity of synaptic function is matched by extensive multidimensional regulation of neuronal mRNA translation which is achieved by a number of post‐transcriptional mechanisms. The first key aspect of this regulatory capacity is mRNA distal trafficking through RNA‐binding proteins, which governs the transcriptomic composition of post‐synaptic compartments. Small non‐coding microRNA and associated machinery have the capacity to precisely coordinate neural gene networks in space and time by providing a flexible specificity dimension to translational regulation. This RNA‐guided subcellular fine‐tuning of protein synthesis is an exquisite mechanism used in neurons to exert control of synaptic properties. Emerging evidence also implicates brain‐enriched long non‐coding RNA and novel circular RNA in posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression through the modulation of both mRNA and miRNA functions, thereby exemplifying the complex nature of neuronal translation. Herein, we review current knowledge of these regulatory systems and analyse how these mechanisms of transcriptomic regulation may be linked together to achieve high‐order spatiotemporal control of post‐synaptic translation.