Pharmacological inhibition of FKBP51 mitigates early life adversity-induced social deficits
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus
PROVIDER: GSE318028 | GEO | 2026/07/15
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Early-life adversity (ELA) is a major predictor of psychopathology, and is thought to increase lifetime risk by epigenetically regulating the genome. Here, focusing on the lateral amygdala, a major brain site for emotional homeostasis, we described molecular cross-talk among multiple epigenetic mechanisms, including 6 histone marks, DNA methylation and the transcriptome, in subjects with a history of ELA and controls. We first uncovered, in the healthy brain, previously unknown interactions among epigenetic layers, in particular related to non-CG methylation in the CAC context. We then showed that ELA associates with methylomic changes that are as frequent in the CAC as in the canonical CG context, while these two forms of plasticity occur in sharply distinct genomic regions, features, and chromatin states. Combining these multiple data indicated that immune-related and small GTPase signaling pathways are most consistently impaired in the amygdala of ELA individuals. Overall, this work provides new insights into epigenetic brain regulation as a function of early-life experience.
2020-09-22 | GSE151827 | GEO
Project description:Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by extensive fear in social situations. Multiple genetic and environmental factors are known to contribute to its pathogenesis. One of the main environmental risk factors is early life adversity (ELA). Evidence is emerging that epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation might play an important role in the biological mechanisms underlying SAD and ELA. To investigate the relationship between ELA, DNA methylation, and SAD, we performed an epigenome-wide association study for SAD and ELA examining DNA from whole blood of a cohort of 143 individuals using DNA methylation arrays. We identified two differentially methylated regions (DMRs) associated with SAD located within the genes SLC43A2 and TNXB. As this was the first epigenome-wide association study for SAD, it is worth noting that both genes have previously been associated with panic disorder. Further, we identified two DMRs associated with ELA within the SLC17A3 promoter region and the SIAH3 gene and several DMRs that were associated with the interaction of SAD and ELA. Of these, the regions within C2CD2L and MRPL28 showed the largest difference in DNA methylation. Lastly, we found that two DMRs were associated with both the severity of social anxiety and ELA, however, neither of them was found to mediate the contribution of ELA to SAD later in life. Future studies are needed to replicate our findings in independent cohorts and to investigate the biological pathways underlying these effects.
2021-01-31 | GSE164056 | GEO
Project description:Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by severe fear in social situations and avoidance of these. Multiple genetic as well as environmental factors contribute to the etiopathology of SAD. One of the main risk factors for SAD is stress, especially during early periods of life (early life adversity; ELA). ELA leads to structural and regulatory alterations contributing to disease vulnerability. This includes the dysregulation of the immune response. However, the molecular link between ELA and the risk for SAD in adulthood remain largely unclear. Evidence is emerging that long-lasting changes of gene expression patterns play an important role in the biological mechanisms linking ELA and SAD. Therefore, we conducted a transcriptome study of SAD and ELA performing RNA sequencing in peripheral blood samples. Analyzing differential gene expression between individuals suffering from SAD with high or low levels of ELA and healthy individuals with high or low levels of ELA, 13 significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified with respect to SAD whilst no significant differences in expression were identified with respect to ELA. The most significantly expressed gene was MAPK3 (p=0.003) being upregulated in the SAD group compared to control individuals. In contrary, weighted gene co-expression network analyses (WGCNA) identified only modules significantly associated with ELA (p≤0.05), not with SAD. Furthermore, analyzing interaction networks of the genes from the ELA-associated modules and the SAD-related MAPK3) revealed complex interactions of those genes. Gene functional enrichment analyses indicate a role of signal transduction pathways as well as inflammatory responses supporting an involvement of the immune system in the association of ELA and SAD. In conclusion, we did not identify a direct molecular link between ELA and adult SAD by transcriptional changes. However, our data indicate an indirect association of ELA and SAD mediated by the interaction of genes involved in immune-related signal transduction.
2023-04-16 | GSE228702 | GEO
Project description:In a systemic effort to survive environmental stress, organ systems fluctuate and adapt to overcome external pressures. The evolutionary drive back towards homeostasis, makes it difficult to determine if an organism experienced a toxic exposure to stress, especially in early prenatal and neonatal periods of development. Previous studies indicate that primary human teeth may provide historical records of experiences related to stressors during that early time window. To assess the molecular effects of early life adversity on enamel formation, we used a limited bedding and nesting (LBN) mouse model of early life adversity (ELA), to assess changes in enamel organ gene expression and enamel mineralization. Enamel of postnatal day 12 (P12) weight-matched ELA mice was more mineralized as compared control enamel. RNAseq showed 724 genes significantly upregulated in ELA enamel organs as compared to controls, and 574 significantly downregulated genes (DESeq2 p-value <= 0.05). Transcripts expressing the enamel matrix proteins amelogenin (Amelx) and enamelin (Enam) were among the top 4 most differentially expressed genes. The most significantly enriched GO and Reactome pathway was Extracellular Matrix Organization, while the most significantly enriched KEGG Pathways were Butanoate metabolism and Synthesis and Degradation of Ketone Bodies. qPCR analysis of weight-matched ELA and control enamel organs confirmed that expression of the ameloblast-specific proteins Amelx and Enam were highly upregulated in ELA mice. When evaluating molecular mechanisms for amelogenin upregulation, we found significantly increased expression of Dlx3, while transcripts for clock genes Per1 and Nrd1, which have also positively associated with amelogenin expression, were downregulated. These findings suggest that the developing enamel organs are sensitive to the pressures of early life adversity and produce structural biomarkers in tooth enamel mineral to reflect these changes. Together these results support the possibility that tooth enamel may contain biomarkers of cellular effects associated with systemic early life adversity.
2022-04-05 | GSE199982 | GEO
Project description:Chronic pain affects 20-30% of the population and imposes a significant socio-economic burden as it is often accompanied by substantial emotional comorbidities such as anxiety and depression. Yet, the mechanisms underlying the interactions between the sensory and emotional aspects of chronic pain remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the role of FKBP51, a regulator of the stress response, in mediating both sensory and emotional symptoms of chronic pain. Inhibition of FKBP51, via genetic deletion or pharmacological blockade, in persistent joint pain reduced fast-onset sensory, functional and activity-related symptoms, as well as late anxio-depressive comorbidities. FKBP51 inhibition after the establishment of the hypersensitive state provided only temporary symptoms relief, while acute inhibition at disease onset protected from the full development of sensory and anxio-depressive symptoms for up to 6 months. Our results also indicated that early pain symptoms could predict the late sensory and emotional outcomes of chronic pain. RNA sequencing of spinal cord tissue revealed that late FKBP51 inhibition transiently altered nociceptive genes associated with mechanical hypersensitivity. In contrast, early inhibition persistently downregulated the Naaa gene, a key regulator of the transition to chronic pain, and reorganized spinal cilia. Our results indicate that early FKBP51 inhibition after injury can persistently reduce chronic pain and prevent the onset of associated emotional comorbidities by modulating critical spinal neurobiological pathways that play pivotal roles in the transition to chronic pain.
2025-10-14 | GSE293520 | GEO
Project description:Early-life adversity (ELA) is associated with lifelong memory deficits, yet the responsible mechanisms remain unclear. We imposed ELA by rearing rat pups in simulated poverty, assessed hippocampal memory, and probed changes in gene expression, their transcriptional regulation and the consequent changes in hippocampal neuronal structure. ELA rats had poor hippocampal memory and stunted hippocampal pyramidal neurons, associated with ~140 differentially expressed genes. Upstream regulators of the altered genes included glucocorticoid receptor and, unexpectedly, the transcription factor neuron-restrictive silencer factor (NRSF/REST). NRSF contributed critically to the memory deficits because blocking its function transiently following ELA rescued spatial memory and restored the dendritic arborization of hippocampal pyramidal neurons in ELA rats. Blocking NRSF function in vitro augmented dendritic complexity of developing hippocampal neurons, suggesting that NRSF represses genes involved in neuronal maturation. These findings establish important, surprising contributions of NRSF to ELA-induced transcriptional programming that disrupts hippocampal maturation and memory function.
2020-12-15 | GSE161498 | GEO
Project description:Mental and cognitive health, as well as vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders, involve the interplay of genes with the environment during sensitive developmental periods. Genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development and maturation of neurons, synapses, and the resulting brain circuits. Within the hypothalamus, early-life experiences cause changes in the number of excitatory synapses onto corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)-expressing neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN). Further, such synaptic changes suffice to induce enduring epigenomic changes within these cells, influencing programs of gene expression. However, the epigenetic mechanisms by which early-life experiences orchestrate transcriptional programs within individual CRH-expressing neurons, with enduring functional consequences, remain unknown. We utilize animal models of an impoverished environment and unpredictable maternal care (in a limited bedding and nesting [LBN] paradigm), which provokes major alterations in cognitive and emotional outcomes. We are focused on the change in gene expression profiles of stress-sensitive CRH-neurons in the PVN following early-life adversity (ELA). Because of the known heterogeneity of CRH-expressing neuronal populations, we are using single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to determine differential gene expression associated with early-life adversity and establish the upstream mechanisms and downstream consequences. We found that CRH-expressing populations of neurons in the PVN can be clustered by both their gene expression profiles as well as by their neurotransmitter phenotype. ELA significantly modified gene expression programs in some neuronal clusters more than others, reducing programs of neuronal development and differentiation and enhancing gene families involved in responses to stress and inflammation. The use of single-cell transcriptomics revealed that ELA impacts gene expression profiles in a cell-type specific manner, with distinctive influence on the different clusters and subpopulations of CRH neurons.
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Project description:Early life stress (ELS) has often been described as a risk factor for developing psychiatric disease. However, moderate exposure to ELS can also lead to stress inoculation and consequently adaptive changes on brain and behavior. Moreover, the FKBP5 gene, encoding the FKBP51 co-chaperone, has been associated with an increased risk for developing psychiatric disorders, specifically in interaction with ELS exposure. However, the underlying mechanisms behind the interaction of FKBP51 and moderate ELS exposure are still not completely understood and particularly data in the female sex are scarce. In this study, the contribution of FKBP51 in glutamatergic forebrain neurons to the long-term consequences of moderate ELS was investigated in both sexes, by using the Fkbp5Nex conditional knockout line. In female wild-type Fkbp5lox/lox mice, ELS exposure led to an anxiolytic phenotype and improved memory performance in a stressful context, however this ELS effect was absent in in Fkbp5Nexx wild-type mice. Interactive effects of FKBP51 in glutamatergic forebrain neurons and moderate ELS exposure in female mice were also reflected on brain volume of different cortical regions, the subiculum and white matter structures. Furthermore, interactive effects were observed for structural and electrophysiological properties of CA1 pyramidal neurons of the dorsal hippocampus. RNA sequencing of the hippocampus revealed the transcription factor 4 (TCF4) as a potential regulator of these interactive effects. Cre-dependent viral overexpression of TCF4 in female Nex-Cre mice led to similar beneficial effects on behavior as the moderate ELS exposure. Taken together, this study shows that FKBP51 in glutamatergic forebrain neurons mediates adaptive effects of moderate ELS exposure on emotional regulation, cognitive behavior and neuronal structure and function. Moreover, it proposes TCF4 as an underlying target that drives the FKBP51-mediated effects of moderate ELS on brain and behavior.
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Project description:The risk for psychiatric disorders is strongly affected by environmental stressors. The underlying mechanisms are inevitably multifactorial still not fully understood. Glucocorticoids (GCs), which are prominent stress mediators that affect transcriptional activity and brain morphology, are implicated in the pathophysiology of multiple forms of psychopathology. The challenge is that of establishing the relevance of GC-related transcriptional effects for stress-related psychopathology in humans. We addressed this issue by generating gene expression data from hippocampal dentate gyrus from macaques and rats to identify clusters of co-expressed genes sensitive to GC exposure as the basis for a biologically-informed polygenic risk score (ePRS) to investigate neuropsychiatric outcomes in humans exposed to early life adversity. We used RNA-sequencing data to identify a cluster of GC-responsive genes co-expressed in the posterior dentate gyrus (pDG) of female Cynomologus monkeys and preserved in the rat model with the homologous region (the dorsal DG). In total 11395 SNPs derived from these genes (507 genes) were used to create an ePRS to explore the interaction with early life adversity on psychiatric phenotypes in human cohorts using the UK Biobank Resource and ALSPAC data sets. The biologically-informed ePRS significantly predicted psychotic behavior in adversity-exposed females as well as variation in brain volume. These findings reveal that GC exposure influences a specific group of genes in pDG, largely enriched for transcription processes and pathways related to development activity. Variations in the expression of this gene network can be used in a translational manner to predict risk for neuropsychiatric conditions and brain volume alterations after early stress exposure. These results highlight the importance of hippocampal GC-related transcriptional activity as a mediator for the effects of early life adversity on mental health outcomes.
2020-05-29 | GSE151342 | GEO
Project description:While the influence of both genetic and environmental factors on the development of psychiatric symptoms is well-recognized, the precise nature of their interaction throughout development remains a subject of ongoing debate. This study investigated the association between the expression of 78 candidate genes, previously associated with psychiatric phenotypes, in peripheral blood and both adversity and psychopathology in a sample of 298 young individuals assessed at two time points from the Brazilian High Risk Cohort Study for Mental Conditions (BHRCS). Psychopathology was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), considering the total CBCL, p-factor (i.e. general factor of psychopathology), and internalizing and externalizing symptoms as clinical variables. The life adversities considered in this study includes four composite variables: child maltreatment, stressful life events, threat and deprivation.Gene expression was measured using next-generation sequencing for target genes and differential gene expression was analyzed with the DESeq2 package. Mixed models revealed six genes associated with internalizing symptoms: NR3C1, HSPBP1, SIN3A, SMAD4, and CRLF3 genes exhibited a negative correlation with these symptoms, while FAR1 gene showed a positive correlation. Additionally, we also found a negative association between USP38 gene expression and externalizing symptoms. Finally, DENND11 and PRRC1 genes were negatively associated with deprivation, a latent factor characterized by neglect, parental absence, and measures of material forms of deprivation. No mediation or moderation effect was observed of gene expression on the association between life adversities and psychiatric symptoms, meaning that they might influence distinct pathways. Among these nine genes, NR3C1, which encodes a glucocorticoid receptor, is by far the most investigated, being associated with depressive symptoms, early life adversity, and stress. While further research is needed to fully understand the complex relationship between gene expression, life adversities, and psychopathology, our findings provide valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying mental disorders.
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