title: DNA methylation profiling in the thalamus and hippocampus of postnatal malnourished mice, including effects related to long-term potentiation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  DNA methylation has been viewed as the most highly characterized epigenetic mark for genome regulation and development. Postnatal brains appear to exhibit stimulus-induced methylation changes because of factors such as environment, lifestyle, and diet (nutrition). The purpose of this study was to examine how extensively the brain DNA methylome is regulated by nutrition in early life.
  
  
  RESULTS
  By quantifying the total amount of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) in the thalamus and the hippocampus of postnatal malnourished mice and normal mice, we found the two regions showed differences in global DNA methylation status. The methylation level in the thalamus was much higher than that in the hippocampus. Then, we used a next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based method (MSCC) to detect the whole genome methylation of the two regions in malnourished mice and normal mice. Notably, we found that in the thalamus, 500 discriminable variations existed and that approximately 60% were related to neuronal development or psychiatric diseases. Pathway analyses of the corresponding genes highlighted changes for 9 genes related to long-term potentiation (5.3-fold enrichment, P = 0.033).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings may help to indicate the genome-wide DNA methylation status of different brain regions and the effects of malnutrition on brain DNA methylation. The results also indicate that postnatal malnutrition may increase the risk of psychiatric disorders.
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: Daizhan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Fatao
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Junyi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yinan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Mengyuan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kan
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Guoyin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Xiaolan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Jihui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, PR China. helin@bio-x.cn.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051379:Mice; D013788:Thalamus / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA