Chronic Cocaine Exposure Alters Genome-Wide DNA Methylation and Gene Expression and Exacerbates the Neurological Impairments and Neuropathologies in the Long-Term HIV Tat-Expressing Mouse Model of HIV Associated Neurocognitive Disorder

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojie Zhao ◽  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Suresh R. Kandel ◽  
Frédéric Brau ◽  
Johnny J. He
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojie Zhao ◽  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Suresh J Kandel ◽  
Frederic Brau ◽  
Johnny He

HIV infection of the central nervous system causes HIV-associated neurocognitive disease (HAND) in up to 50% HIV-infected individuals. Cocaine use is prevalent in the HIV-infected population and has been shown to facilitate the HAND progression. However, the cellular and molecular mechanism of the cocaine-facilitated HAND progression remains largely unknown. In this study, we took advantage of the doxycycline inducible and brain-specific HIV Tat transgenic mouse model (iTat) of HAND and characterized effects of chronic cocaine exposure and long-term Tat expression on HAND-associated neurology and neuropathology. We found that cocaine exposure worsened the learning and memory of iTat mice, coupled with dendritic spine swelling, increased synaptophysin expression, and diminished microglia and astrocyte activation. We then employed the single-base resolution whole genome bisulfate sequencing and RNA sequencing and identified 14,838 hypermethylated CpG-related differentially methylated regions (DMR) and 15,800 hypomethylated CpG-related DMR that were linked to 52 down- and 127 up-regulated genes by cocaine and Tat. We further uncovered these genes to be mostly enriched at neuronal function- and cell morphology- and synapse formation-related ECM-receptor interaction pathway, and to be linked to behavioral and pathological changes altered by cocaine and Tat. Eight mostly affected genes included four in microglia Ift172, Eif2ak4, Pik3c2a, and Phf8, two in astrocytes Garem1 and Adgrb3, and two in neurons Dcun1d4 and Adgrb3. These findings demonstrated for the first time that cocaine and Tat interactively contributed to HAND neurology and neuropathology through genome-wide changes of DNA methylation and gene expression and suggest that targeting epigenetic changes serves as a potentially new therapeutic strategy to treat cocaine use disorder in people living with HAND.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1709-1716
Author(s):  
Joong‑Sun Kim ◽  
In‑Sik Shin ◽  
Na‑Rae Shin ◽  
Jae‑Yong Nam ◽  
Chul Kim

Glia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (12) ◽  
pp. 2563-2574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennetta W. Hammond ◽  
Wen Q. Qiu ◽  
Daniel F. Marker ◽  
Jeffrey M. Chamberlain ◽  
Will Greaves-Tunnell ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mette Soerensen ◽  
Dominika Marzena Hozakowska-Roszkowska ◽  
Marianne Nygaard ◽  
Martin J. Larsen ◽  
Veit Schwämmle ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Margaret Ryan ◽  
Valerie T.Y. Tan ◽  
Nasya Thompson ◽  
Diane Guévremont ◽  
Bruce G. Mockett ◽  
...  

Background: Secreted amyloid precursor protein-alpha (sAPPα) can enhance memory and is neurotrophic and neuroprotective across a range of disease-associated insults, including amyloid-β toxicity. In a significant step toward validating sAPPα as a therapeutic for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), we demonstrated that long-term overexpression of human sAPPα (for 8 months) in a mouse model of amyloidosis (APP/PS1) could prevent the behavioral and electrophysiological deficits that develop in these mice. Objective: To explore the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for the significant physiological and behavioral improvements observed in sAPPα-treated APP/PS1 mice. Methods: We assessed the long-term effects on the hippocampal transcriptome following continuous lentiviral delivery of sAPPα or empty-vector to male APP/PS1 mice and wild-type controls using Affymetrix Mouse Transcriptome Assays. Data analysis was carried out within the Affymetrix Transcriptome Analysis Console and an integrated analysis of the resulting transcriptomic data was performed with Ingenuity Pathway analysis (IPA). Results: Mouse transcriptome assays revealed expected AD-associated gene expression changes in empty-vector APP/PS1 mice, providing validation of the assays used for the analysis. By contrast, there were specific sAPPα-associated gene expression profiles which included increases in key neuroprotective genes such as Decorin, betaine-GABA transporter, and protocadherin beta-5, subsequently validated by qRT-PCR. An integrated biological pathways analysis highlighted regulation of GABA receptor signaling, cell survival, and inflammatory responses. Furthermore, upstream gene regulatory analysis implicated sAPPα activation of Interleukin-4, which can counteract inflammatory changes in AD. Conclusion: This study identified key molecular processes that likely underpin the long-term neuroprotective and therapeutic effects of increasing sAPPα levels in vivo


Epigenomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Garcia-Ruiz ◽  
Manuel Castro de Moura ◽  
Gerard Muntané ◽  
Lourdes Martorell ◽  
Elena Bosch ◽  
...  

Aim: To investigate DDR1 methylation in the brains of bipolar disorder (BD) patients and its association with DDR1 mRNA levels and comethylation with myelin genes. Materials & methods: Genome-wide profiling of DNA methylation (Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip) corrected for glial composition and DDR1 gene expression analysis in the occipital cortices of individuals with BD (n = 15) and healthy controls (n = 15) were conducted. Results: DDR1 5-methylcytosine levels were increased and directly associated with DDR1b mRNA expression in the brains of BD patients. We also observed that DDR1 was comethylated with a group of myelin genes. Conclusion: DDR1 is hypermethylated in BD brain tissue and is associated with isoform expression. Additionally, DDR1 comethylation with myelin genes supports the role of this receptor in myelination.


2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessilyn Dunn ◽  
Haiwei Qiu ◽  
Soyeon Kim ◽  
Daudi Jjingo ◽  
Ryan Hoffman ◽  
...  

Atherosclerosis preferentially occurs in arterial regions of disturbed blood flow (d-flow), which alters gene expression, endothelial function, and atherosclerosis. Here, we show that d-flow regulates genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in a DNA methyltransferase (DNMT)-dependent manner. We found that d-flow induced expression of DNMT1, but not DNMT3a or DNMT3b, in mouse arterial endothelium in vivo and in cultured endothelial cells by oscillatory shear (OS) compared to unidirectional laminar shear in vitro. The DNMT inhibitor 5-Aza-2’deoxycytidine (5Aza) or DNMT1 siRNA significantly reduced OS-induced endothelial inflammation. Moreover, 5Aza reduced lesion formation in two atherosclerosis models using ApoE-/- mice (western diet for 3 months and the partial carotid ligation model with western diet for 3 weeks). To identify the 5Aza mechanisms, we conducted two genome-wide studies: reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) and transcript microarray using endothelial-enriched gDNA and RNA, respectively, obtained from the partially-ligated left common carotid artery (LCA exposed to d-flow) and the right contralateral control (RCA exposed to s-flow) of mice treated with 5Aza or vehicle. D-flow induced DNA hypermethylation in 421 gene promoters, which was significantly prevented by 5Aza in 335 genes. Systems biological analyses using the RRBS and the transcriptome data revealed 11 mechanosensitive genes whose promoters were hypermethylated by d-flow but rescued by 5Aza treatment. Of those, five genes contain hypermethylated cAMP-response-elements in their promoters, including the transcription factors HoxA5 and Klf3. Their methylation status could serve as a mechanosensitive master switch in endothelial gene expression. Our results demonstrate that d-flow controls epigenomic DNA methylation patterns in a DNMT-dependent manner, which in turn alters endothelial gene expression and induces atherosclerosis.


Author(s):  
Dan Sun ◽  
Thomas S. Layman ◽  
Hyeonsoo Jeong ◽  
Paramita Chatterjee ◽  
Kathleen Grogan ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTDNA methylation is known to play critical roles in key biological processes. Most of our knowledge on regulatory impacts of DNA methylation has come from laboratory-bred model organisms, which may not exhibit the full extent of variation found in wild populations. Here, we investigated naturally-occurring variation in DNA methylation in a wild avian species, the white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). This species offers exceptional opportunities for studying the link between genetic differentiation and phenotypic traits because of a non-recombining chromosome pair linked to both plumage and behavioral phenotypes. Using novel single-nucleotide resolution methylation maps and gene expression data, we show that DNA methylation and the expression of DNA methyltransferases are significantly higher in adults than in nestlings. Genes for which DNA methylation varied between nestlings and adults were implicated in development and cell differentiation and were located throughout the genome. In contrast, differential methylation between plumage morphs was localized to the non-recombining chromosome pair. One subset of CpGs on the non-recombining chromosome was extremely hypomethylated and localized to transposable elements. Changes in methylation predicted changes in gene expression for both chromosomes. In summary, we demonstrate changes in genome-wide DNA methylation that are associated with development and with specific functional categories of genes in white-throated sparrows. Moreover, we observe substantial DNA methylation reprogramming associated with the suppression of recombination, with implications for genome integrity and gene expression divergence. These results offer an unprecedented view of ongoing epigenetic reprogramming in a wild population.


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