title: Hypomethylation of neuregulin in rats selectively bred for reduced sensorimotor gating.
abstract: Low prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle is associated with reduced sensorimotor gating found in schizophrenia. In rats with breeding-induced low PPI neuregulin (NRG1) methylation was significantly decreased in brain regions associated with this phenotype and with schizophrenia, i.e., the medial prefrontal cortex, the nucleus accumbens, and the ventral hippocampus, while methylation in the amygdala and dorsal hippocampus was less affected. The dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) promoter region showed negligible changes between groups. Rats with low PPI may be used to understand the reduced epigenetic regulation found in schizophrenia, and eventually lead to the development of novel therapies.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany. Electronic address: Rhein.mathias@mh-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rhein
authors.forename: Marcel-René
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Muschler
authors.forename: Joachim K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Krauss
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bleich
authors.forename: Helge
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Frieling
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schwabe
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D018899:CpG Islands / Q000502:physiology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics*; D008745:Methylation; D020890:Neuregulin-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000378:metabolism; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D055139:Sensory Gating / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D020890:Neuregulin-1; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2
keywords: Animal model; DNA methylation; Endophenotype; Neuregulin; Prepulse inhibition