Altered DNA Methylation in the Developing Brains of Rats Genetically Prone to High versus Low Anxiety.

ABSTRACT: There is growing evidence of abnormal epigenetic processes playing a role in the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders, although the precise nature of these anomalies remains largely unknown. To study neurobiological (including epigenetic) factors that influence emotionality, we use rats bred for distinct behavioral responses to novelty. Rats bred for low novelty response (low responder [LR]) exhibit high levels of anxiety- and depressive-like behavior compared with high novelty responder (HR) rats. Prior work revealed distinct limbic brain development in HR versus LR rats, including altered expression of genes involved in DNA methylation. This led us to hypothesize that DNA methylation differences in the developing brain drive the disparate HR/LR neurobehavioral phenotypes. Here we report

SUBMITTER: McCoy CR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6468100 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature