title: Prenatal predictors of infant self-regulation: the contributions of placental DNA methylation of NR3C1 and neuroendocrine activity.
abstract: We examined whether placental DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene, NR3C1 was associated with self-regulation and neuroendocrine responses to a social stressor in infancy. Placenta samples were obtained at birth and mothers and their infants (n = 128) participated in the still-face paradigm when infants were 5 months old. Infant self-regulation following the still-face episode was coded and pre-stress cortisol and cortisol reactivity was assessed in response to the still-face paradigm. A factor analysis of NR3C1 CpG sites revealed two factors: one for CpG sites 1-4 and the other for sites 5-13. DNA methylation of the factor comprising NR3C1 CpG sites 5-13 was related to greater cortisol reactivity and infant self-regulation, but cortisol reactivity was not associated with infant self-regulation. The results reveal that prenatal epigenetic processes may explain part of the development of infant self-regulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Conradt
authors.affiliation: The Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fei
authors.affiliation: The Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk Providence, RI, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Providence, RI, USA ; Department of Pediatrics, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: LaGasse
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tronick
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and of Community and Family Medicine, Section of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth Hanover, NH, USA.
authors.forename: Dylan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guerin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and of Community and Family Medicine, Section of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth Hanover, NH, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gorman
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and of Community and Family Medicine, Section of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth Hanover, NH, USA.
authors.forename: Carmen J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Marsit
authors.affiliation: The Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk Providence, RI, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Providence, RI, USA ; Department of Pediatrics, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Barry M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Lester
keywords: DNA methylation; glucocorticoid receptor gene; infancy; prenatal origins; self-regulation