title: Neighborhood and Family Environment of Expectant Mothers May Influence Prenatal Programming of Adult Cancer Risk: Discussion and an Illustrative DNA Methylation Example.
abstract: Childhood stressors including physical abuse predict adult cancer risk. Prior research portrays this finding as an indirect mechanism that operates through coping behaviors, including adult smoking, or through increased toxic exposures during childhood. Little is known about potential direct causal mechanisms between early-life stressors and adult cancer. Because prenatal conditions can affect gene expression by altering DNA methylation, with implications for adult health, we hypothesize that maternal stress may program methylation of cancer-linked genes during gametogenesis. To illustrate this hypothesis, we related maternal social resources to methylation at the imprinted MEG3 differentially methylated regulatory region, which has been linked to multiple cancer types. Mothers (n = 489) from a diverse birth cohort (Durham, North Carolina) provided newborns' cord blood and completed a questionnaire. Newborns of currently married mothers showed lower (-0.321 SD, p < .05) methylation compared to newborns of never-married mothers, who did not differ from newborns whose mothers were cohabiting and others (adjusted for demographics). MEG3 DNA methylation levels were also lower when maternal grandmothers co-resided before pregnancy (-0.314 SD, p < .05). A 1-SD increase in prenatal neighborhood disadvantage also predicted higher methylation (-0.137 SD, p < .05). In conclusion, we found that maternal social resources may result in differential methylation of MEG3, which demonstrates a potential partial mechanism priming socially disadvantaged newborns for later risk of some cancers.
authors.affiliation: a Community and Family Medicine , Duke University , Durham , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Katherine E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: b Carolina Population Center , University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.affiliation: c Duke Cancer Institute , Duke University , Durham , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scarbrough
authors.affiliation: d Department of Biological Sciences , North Carolina State University , Raleigh , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Cathrine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hoyo
authors.affiliation: c Duke Cancer Institute , Duke University , Durham , North Carolina , USA.|e Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Duke University Medical Center , Durham , North Carolina , USA.
authors.forename: Susan K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000502:physiology*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017533:Marital Status; D009657:North Carolina; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding / Q000235:genetics*; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C498907:MEG3 non-coding RNA, human; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding