Regulation of Social Stress and Neural Degeneration by Activity-Regulated Genes and Epigenetic Mechanisms in Dopaminergic Neurons.

ABSTRACT: Transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of both dopaminergic neurons and their accompanying glial cells is of great interest in the search for therapies for neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD). In this review, we collate transcriptional and epigenetic changes identified in adult Drosophila melanogaster dopaminergic neurons in response to either prolonged social deprivation or social enrichment, and compare them with changes identified in mammalian dopaminergic neurons during normal development, stress, injury, and neurodegeneration. Surprisingly, a small set of activity-regulated genes (ARG) encoding transcription factors, and a specific pattern of epigenetic marks on gene promoters, are conserved in dopaminergic neurons over the long evolutionary period between

SUBMITTER: Kent C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7515954 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature