Broad epigenetic signature of maternal care in the brain of adult rats (DNA methylation and H3K9 acetylation profiles)

ABSTRACT: Maternal care is associated with long-term effects on behavior and epigenetic programming of the NR3C1 (GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTOR) gene in the hippocampus of both rats and humans. However, epigenetic changes at a single gene promoter are unlikely to account for the range of responses to the early life environment and the persistent change in expression of hundreds of additional genes in adult rats in response to differences in maternal care. Here we show that natural variations in maternal care are associated with coordinate changes in DNA methylation, chromatin, and gene expression spanning over a hundred kilobase pairs in the hippocampus of adult rats. The offspring of high compared to low maternal care mothers show epigenetic changes in promoters, exons, and gene ends and higher transcrip

ORGANISM(S): Rattus norvegicus

SUBMITTER: Matthew Suderman 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-20714 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress