Molecular changes associated with childhood abuse: a MeDIP-Seq study

• Grant number: 12/03506-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: June 01, 2012
• End date: May 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Suchi Chen
• Grantee: Elizabeth Suchi Chen
• Host Investigator: Gustavo Turecki
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: McGill University, Montreal, Canada
• Associated research grant: 09/07145-9 - Genetic and epigenetic aspects in gastric carcinogenesis, AP.TEM

Abstract

Depressive disorders are complex conditions are the result of the interaction of several factors, including genetics, demographic variables, psychological traits and social stressors. Depressive disorders have been related to early life adversities, which were associated with increased methylation levels of the promoter regions of specific genes, as well as with global methylation abnormalities. Hence, the epigenome is an interface between the dynamic environment and the static genome. In this direction, the aim of this study is to perform methylated DNA Immunoprecipitation followed by next-generation sequencing (MeDIP-Seq) in the dentate gyrus in humans with histories of severe childhood adversity and controls, as well as in a well-characterized animal model of parent-offspring interactions. Moreover, we aimed to assess the functional impact of differential methylation in abused humans and in the rat model of early-life environmental adversity. These findings might lead to the identification of epigenetic pathways alterations induced by early life adversities in the brain. (AU)