MORC1 exhibits cross-species differential methylation in association with early life stress as well as genome-wide association with MDD.

ABSTRACT: Early life stress (ELS) is associated with increased vulnerability for diseases in later life, including psychiatric disorders. Animal models and human studies suggest that this effect is mediated by epigenetic mechanisms. In humans, epigenetic studies to investigate the influence of ELS on psychiatric phenotypes are limited by the inaccessibility of living brain tissue. Due to the tissue-specific nature of epigenetic signatures, it is impossible to determine whether ELS induced epigenetic changes in accessible peripheral cells, for example, blood lymphocytes, reflect epigenetic changes in the brain. To overcome these limitations, we applied a cross-species approach involving: (i) the analysis of CD34+ cells from human cord blood; (ii) the examination of blood-derived CD3+ T cells of newbo

SUBMITTER: Nieratschker V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4150246 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature