1
|
Ma L, Wang F, Li Y, Wang J, Chang Q, Du Y, Sadan J, Zhao Z, Fan G, Yao B, Chen JF. Brain methylome remodeling selectively regulates neuronal activity genes linking to emotional behaviors in mice exposed to maternal immune activation. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7829. [PMID: 38030616 PMCID: PMC10687003 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43497-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
How early life experience is translated into storable epigenetic information leading to behavioral changes remains poorly understood. Here we found that Zika virus (ZIKV) induced-maternal immune activation (MIA) imparts offspring with anxiety- and depression-like behavior. By integrating bulk and single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) with genome-wide 5hmC (5-hydroxymethylcytosine) profiling and 5mC (5-methylcytosine) profiling in prefrontal cortex (PFC) of ZIKV-affected male offspring mice, we revealed an overall loss of 5hmC and an increase of 5mC levels in intragenic regions, associated with transcriptional changes in neuropsychiatric disorder-related genes. In contrast to their rapid initiation and inactivation in normal conditions, immediate-early genes (IEGs) remain a sustained upregulation with enriched expression in excitatory neurons, which is coupled with increased 5hmC and decreased 5mC levels of IEGs in ZIKV-affected male offspring. Thus, MIA induces maladaptive methylome remodeling in brain and selectively regulates neuronal activity gene methylation linking to emotional behavioral abnormalities in offspring.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Li Ma
- Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Feng Wang
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Yangping Li
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Jing Wang
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Qing Chang
- Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Yuanning Du
- Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Jotham Sadan
- Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Zhen Zhao
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Guoping Fan
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
| | - Bing Yao
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
| | - Jian-Fu Chen
- Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ma L, Wang J, Ge J, Wang Y, Zhang W, Du Y, Luo J, Li Y, Wang F, Fan G, Chen R, Yao B, Zhao Z, Guo ML, Kim WK, Chai Y, Chen JF. Reversing neural circuit and behavior deficit in mice exposed to maternal inflammation by Zika virus. EMBO Rep 2021; 22:e51978. [PMID: 34232545 DOI: 10.15252/embr.202051978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Revised: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy is linked to various developmental brain disorders. Infants who are asymptomatic at birth might have postnatal neurocognitive complications. However, animal models recapitulating these neurocognitive phenotypes are lacking, and the circuit mechanism underlying behavioral abnormalities is unknown. Here, we show that ZIKV infection during mouse pregnancy induces maternal immune activation (MIA) and leads to autistic-like behaviors including repetitive self-grooming and impaired social memory in offspring. In the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), ZIKV-affected offspring mice exhibit excitation and inhibition imbalance and increased cortical activity. This could be explained by dysregulation of inhibitory neurons and synapses, and elevated neural activity input from mPFC-projecting ventral hippocampus (vHIP) neurons. We find structure alterations in the synaptic connections and pattern of vHIP innervation of mPFC neurons, leading to hyperconnectivity of the vHIP-mPFC pathway. Decreasing the activity of mPFC-projecting vHIP neurons with a chemogenetic strategy rescues social memory deficits in ZIKV offspring mice. Our studies reveal a hyperconnectivity of vHIP to mPFC projection driving social memory deficits in mice exposed to maternal inflammation by ZIKV.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Li Ma
- Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jing Wang
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jianlong Ge
- Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Yuan Wang
- Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, USA.,State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Wei Zhang
- Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Yuanning Du
- Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jun Luo
- Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, USA.,College of Stomatology, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yangping Li
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Feng Wang
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Guoping Fan
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Rong Chen
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Bing Yao
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Zhen Zhao
- Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ming-Lei Guo
- Department of Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA
| | - Woong-Ki Kim
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Cell Biology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA
| | - Yang Chai
- Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jian-Fu Chen
- Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|