title: Neuronal cell-type specific DNA methylation patterns of the Cacna1c gene.
abstract: Gene expression of the alpha-1 subunit of the L-type voltage-gated calcium channel, CACNA1C, is known to be complexly regulated. Because CACNA1C is not only a crucial gene in normal brain function but also a promising candidate risk gene for psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, elucidating the molecular basis of transcriptional regulatory mechanism will be critically important. Here we examined DNA methylation status of CpG islands and a CpG island shore on mouse Cacna1c in neuronal and non-neuronal nuclei, which were separated with a fluorescent activated cell sorting technique. We found that neurons and non-neurons showed differential DNA methylation profile on a CpG island shore. This difference was evolutionarily conserved in human neuronal and non-neuronal nuclei in the prefrontal cortex, suggesting that DNA methylation status on the CpG island shore of Cacna1c may have an important role in transcript regulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishioka
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bundo
authors.forename: Wataru
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ukai
authors.forename: Eri
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Toshikazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.forename: Tsukasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Kiyoto
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kasai
authors.forename: Tadafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D020746:Calcium Channels, L-Type / Q000235:genetics*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018899:CpG Islands / Q000235:genetics*; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: C514350:CACNA1C protein, mouse; D020746:Calcium Channels, L-Type