Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE20714: Broad epigenetic signature of maternal care in the brain of adult rats (DNA methylation and H3K9 acetylation profiles) GSE20717: Broad epigenetic signature of maternal care in the brain of adult rats (expression) Refer to individual Series
Project description:Maternal care is associated with long-term effects on behavior and epigenetic programming of the NR3C1 (GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTOR) gene in the hippocampus of both rats and humans. However, epigenetic changes at a single gene promoter are unlikely to account for the range of responses to the early life environment and the persistent change in expression of hundreds of additional genes in adult rats in response to differences in maternal care. Here we show that natural variations in maternal care are associated with coordinate changes in DNA methylation, chromatin, and gene expression spanning over a hundred kilobase pairs in the hippocampus of adult rats. The offspring of high compared to low maternal care mothers show epigenetic changes in promoters, exons, and gene ends and higher transcriptional activity across many genes, suggesting that a broad epigenetic regulation of gene expression may form part of a coordinated response to early maternal care. We obtained hippocampal samples from adult offspring of rat mothers that differed in the frequency of pup licking/grooming in the first week of life, 4 from high frequency and 4 from low frequency mothers. Using custom-designed microarrays with probes tiling the 7 million base pair region of rat chromosome 18 centered at the NR3C1 gene at 100 bp spacing, we obtained transcription profiles by hybridizing cDNA to microarrays. Each profile was generated in duplicate.
Project description:Maternal care is associated with long-term effects on behavior and epigenetic programming of the NR3C1 (GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTOR) gene in the hippocampus of both rats and humans. However, epigenetic changes at a single gene promoter are unlikely to account for the range of responses to the early life environment and the persistent change in expression of hundreds of additional genes in adult rats in response to differences in maternal care. Here we show that natural variations in maternal care are associated with coordinate changes in DNA methylation, chromatin, and gene expression spanning over a hundred kilobase pairs in the hippocampus of adult rats. The offspring of high compared to low maternal care mothers show epigenetic changes in promoters, exons, and gene ends and higher transcriptional activity across many genes, suggesting that a broad epigenetic regulation of gene expression may form part of a coordinated response to early maternal care.
Project description:Maternal care is associated with long-term effects on behavior and epigenetic programming of the NR3C1 (GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTOR) gene in the hippocampus of both rats and humans. However, epigenetic changes at a single gene promoter are unlikely to account for the range of responses to the early life environment and the persistent change in expression of hundreds of additional genes in adult rats in response to differences in maternal care. Here we show that natural variations in maternal care are associated with coordinate changes in DNA methylation, chromatin, and gene expression spanning over a hundred kilobase pairs in the hippocampus of adult rats. The offspring of high compared to low maternal care mothers show epigenetic changes in promoters, exons, and gene ends and higher transcriptional activity across many genes, suggesting that a broad epigenetic regulation of gene expression may form part of a coordinated response to early maternal care.
Project description:Maternal care is associated with long-term effects on behavior and epigenetic programming of the NR3C1 (GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTOR) gene in the hippocampus of both rats and humans. However, epigenetic changes at a single gene promoter are unlikely to account for the range of responses to the early life environment and the persistent change in expression of hundreds of additional genes in adult rats in response to differences in maternal care. Here we show that natural variations in maternal care are associated with coordinate changes in DNA methylation, chromatin, and gene expression spanning over a hundred kilobase pairs in the hippocampus of adult rats. The offspring of high compared to low maternal care mothers show epigenetic changes in promoters, exons, and gene ends and higher transcriptional activity across many genes, suggesting that a broad epigenetic regulation of gene expression may form part of a coordinated response to early maternal care. We obtained hippocampal samples from adult offspring of rat mothers that differed in the frequency of pup licking/grooming in the first week of life. Using custom-designed microarrays with probes tiling the 7 million base pair region of rat chromosome 18 centered at the NR3C1 gene at 100 bp spacing, we obtained DNA methylation and H3K9 acetylation profiles by ChIP-on-chip. Each profile was generated in triplicate, each type of profile from 3 high frequency and 3 low frequency mothers.
Project description:Epigenetic changes such as DNA cytosine methylation modulate gene function across brain and are implicated in the pathophysiology of neurodevelopmental disorders including schizophrenia and autism. Epigenetic changes can be caused by environmental exposures such as inflammation, and may at least partly explain why prenatal exposure to inflammation increase risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. We used an MIA mouse model to investigate the postnatal epigenetic changes associated with exposure to the viral analogue PolyI:C. The effect of dietary supplement with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on exposed mice was also examined. Methylation was estimated genome-wide across gene regulatory regions. Widespread epigenetic changes were observed following exposure to inflammation during prenatal life. The differentially methylated gene set was enriched for genes involved in nervous system development and function. Omega-3 intervention modified the epigenetic profile, including a number of genes which were affected by MIA. These experiments indicate that environmental and genetic risk factors modulate similar biological pathways that are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Project description:Background: Environmental exposures co-occurring during early life have a profound influence on neurodevelopment. Our previous work in rats suggests that postnatal maternal care modulates the effects of prenatal exposure to bisphenols, an estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemical, on offspring neurodevelopment. Elevated postnatal maternal licking/grooming and prenatal bisphenol exposure have known opposing effects on estrogen receptor alpha (Esr1) expression in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) of the hypothalamus, which could impact expression of estrogen-responsive genes. Based on this previous work, we hypothesized that postnatal maternal licking/grooming would mitigate the effects of prenatal bisphenol exposure on Esr1 expression and estrogen-responsive genes in the developing MPOA. In addition, we hypothesized that there would be interactive effects of prenatal bisphenol exposure and postnatal maternal licking/grooming on DNA methylation, particularly nearby estrogen responsive elements. Results: Our results indicated a significant interaction between prenatal bisphenol exposure and maternal postnatal licking/grooming on estrogen-related receptor gamma (Esrrg) expression in female pups. These interactions were also evident in co-expression gene profiles in female pups; the majority of which were enriched for estrogen-responsive genes. Finally, DNA methylation analyses indicated that adding postnatal maternal licking/grooming as a covariate influenced the number of differentially methylated regions for prenatal bisphenol-exposed male and female pups. These differentially methylated regions were enriched for binding sites for transcription factors that are known to interact with estrogen receptors, suggesting some secondary effects on postnatal gene regulation. Conclusions: These results suggest a novel biological mechanism in which postnatal maternal care can mitigate the negative neurodevelopmental impacts of prenatal bisphenol exposure.