Tet3 mediates stable glucocorticoid-induced alterations in DNA methylation and Dnmt3a/Dkk1 expression in neural progenitors.

ABSTRACT: Developmental exposure to excess glucocorticoids (GCs) has harmful neurodevelopmental effects, which include persistent alterations in the differentiation potential of embryonic neural stem cells (NSCs). The mechanisms, however, are largely unknown. Here, we investigated the effects of dexamethasone (Dex, a synthetic GC analog) by MeDIP-like genome-wide analysis of differentially methylated DNA regions (DMRs) in NSCs isolated from embryonic rat cortices. We found that Dex-induced genome-wide DNA hypomethylation in the NSCs in vitro. Similarly, in utero exposure to Dex resulted in global DNA hypomethylation in the cerebral cortex of 3-day-old mouse pups. Dex-exposed NSCs displayed stable changes in the expression of the DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3a, and Dkk1, an essential factor for neurona

SUBMITTER: Bose R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4669838 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature