GSE126955
Epigenetic signatures of chronic social stress in stress-susceptible animals
Susceptibility to depression-like behavioral abnormalities in mice is studied with a well-established social defeat stress model. Responses to social defeat are associated with widespread transcriptomic changes in several brain regions. Here we present the first study of genome-wide cytosine methylation patterns of mice susceptible to social defeat stress using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing on DNA from the nucleus accumbens, a key brain reward region implicated in depression. We find a greater proportion of CpG hypermethylation than hypomethylation in susceptible mice compared to controls, with an opposite trend in the CHG and CHH contexts. Among the genes with the largest extent of differential methylation we find several which have been identified in earlier studies of gene expression changes related to social defeat, including estrogen receptor alpha (encoded by Esr1) and the deleted in colorectal cancer (Dcc) gene. Genes exhibiting differential methylation are enriched in GO terms of nervous system development, neurogenesis and structure development, which associated with learning memory and stress response. Our data provide a new evidence of the association of DNA methylation profiles and susceptibility to chronic stress. Overall design: Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing on nucleus accumens DNA from mice exposed to social defeat