Social status alters chromatin accessibility and the gene regulatory response to glucocorticoid stimulation in rhesus macaques.

ABSTRACT: Low social status is an important predictor of disease susceptibility and mortality risk in humans and other social mammals. These effects are thought to stem in part from dysregulation of the glucocorticoid (GC)-mediated stress response. However, the molecular mechanisms that connect low social status and GC dysregulation to downstream health outcomes remain elusive. Here, we used an in vitro GC challenge to investigate the consequences of experimentally manipulated social status (i.e., dominance rank) for immune cell gene regulation in female rhesus macaques, using paired control and GC-treated peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples. We show that social status not only influences immune cell gene expression but also chromatin accessibility at hundreds of regions in the genome. Social

SUBMITTER: Snyder-Mackler N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6347725 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature