1
|
Bečeheli I, Horvatiček M, Perić M, Nikolić B, Holuka C, Klasić M, Ivanišević M, Starčević M, Desoye G, Hranilović D, Turner JD, Štefulj J. Methylation of serotonin regulating genes in cord blood cells: association with maternal metabolic parameters and correlation with methylation in peripheral blood cells during childhood and adolescence. Clin Epigenetics 2024; 16:4. [PMID: 38172913 PMCID: PMC10765867 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-023-01610-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) signaling is involved in neurodevelopment, mood regulation, energy metabolism, and other physiological processes. DNA methylation plays a significant role in modulating the expression of genes responsible for maintaining 5-HT balance, such as 5-HT transporter (SLC6A4), monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), and 5-HT receptor type 2A (HTR2A). Maternal metabolic health can influence long-term outcomes in offspring, with DNA methylation mediating these effects. We investigated associations between maternal metabolic parameters-pre-pregnancy body mass index (pBMI), gestational weight gain (GWG), and glucose tolerance status (GTS), i.e., gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) versus normal glucose tolerance (NGT)-and cord blood methylation of SLC6A4, MAOA, and HTR2A in participants from our PlaNS birth cohort. CpG sites (15, 9, and 2 in each gene, respectively) were selected based on literature and in silico data. Methylation levels were quantified by bisulfite pyrosequencing. We also examined the stability of methylation patterns in these genes in circulating blood cells from birth to adolescence using longitudinal DNA methylation data from the ARIES database. RESULTS None of the 203 PlaNS mothers included in this study had preexisting diabetes, 99 were diagnosed with GDM, and 104 had NGT; all neonates were born at full term by planned Cesarean section. Methylation at most CpG sites differed between male and female newborns. SLC6A4 methylation correlated inversely with maternal pBMI and GWG, while methylation at HTR2A site -1665 correlated positively with GWG. None of the maternal metabolic parameters statistically associated with MAOA methylation. DNA methylation data in cord blood and peripheral blood at ages 7 and 15 years were available for 808 participants from the ARIES database; 4 CpG sites (2 in SLC6A4 and 2 in HTR2A) overlapped between the PlaNS and ARIES cohorts. A positive correlation between methylation levels in cord blood and peripheral blood at 7 and 15 years of age was observed for both SLC6A4 and HTR2A CpG sites. CONCLUSIONS Methylation of 5-HT regulating genes in cord blood cells is influenced by neonatal sex, with maternal metabolism playing an additional role. Inter-individual variations present in circulating blood cells at birth are still pronounced in childhood and adolescence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ivona Bečeheli
- Division of Molecular Biology, Ruđer Bošković Institute, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Marina Horvatiček
- Division of Molecular Biology, Ruđer Bošković Institute, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Maja Perić
- Division of Molecular Biology, Ruđer Bošković Institute, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Barbara Nikolić
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Cyrielle Holuka
- Department of Infection and Immunity, Luxembourg Institute of Health, 4354, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
- Faculty of Science, University of Luxembourg, 4365, Belval, Luxembourg
| | - Marija Klasić
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Marina Ivanišević
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Mirta Starčević
- Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Gernot Desoye
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, 8036, Graz, Austria
| | - Dubravka Hranilović
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Jonathan D Turner
- Department of Infection and Immunity, Luxembourg Institute of Health, 4354, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Jasminka Štefulj
- Division of Molecular Biology, Ruđer Bošković Institute, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia.
- University Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Croatia, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Deng WQ, Belisario K, Gray JC, Levitt EE, Mohammadi-Shemirani P, Singh D, Pare G, MacKillop J. Leveraging related health phenotypes for polygenic prediction of impulsive choice, impulsive action, and impulsive personality traits in 1534 European ancestry community adults. GENES, BRAIN, AND BEHAVIOR 2023:e12848. [PMID: 37060189 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2022] [Revised: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
Impulsivity refers to a number of conceptually related phenotypes reflecting self-regulatory capacity that are considered promising endophenotypes for mental and physical health. Measures of impulsivity can be broadly grouped into three domains, namely, impulsive choice, impulsive action, and impulsive personality traits. In a community-based sample of ancestral Europeans (n = 1534), we conducted genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of impulsive choice (delay discounting), impulsive action (behavioral inhibition), and impulsive personality traits (UPPS-P), and evaluated 11 polygenic risk scores (PRSs) of phenotypes previously linked to self-regulation. Although there were no individual genome-wide significant hits, the neuroticism PRS was positively associated with negative urgency (adjusted R2 = 1.61%, p = 3.6 × 10-7 ) and the educational attainment PRS was inversely associated with delay discounting (adjusted R2 = 1.68%, p = 2.2 × 10-7 ). There was also evidence implicating PRSs of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, externalizing, risk-taking, smoking cessation, smoking initiation, and body mass index with one or more impulsivity phenotypes (adjusted R2 s: 0.35%-1.07%; FDR adjusted ps = 0.05-0.0006). These significant associations between PRSs and impulsivity phenotypes are consistent with established genetic correlations. The combined PRS explained 0.91%-2.46% of the phenotypic variance for individual impulsivity measures, corresponding to 8.7%-32.5% of their reported single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based heritability, suggesting a non-negligible portion of the SNP-based heritability can be recovered by PRSs. These results support the predictive validity and utility of PRSs, even derived from related phenotypes, to inform the genetics of impulsivity phenotypes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wei Q Deng
- Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| | - Kyla Belisario
- Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| | - Joshua C Gray
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Emily E Levitt
- Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| | | | - Desmond Singh
- Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Wterloo, Canada
| | - Guillaume Pare
- Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
- Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| | - James MacKillop
- Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Alrfooh A, Smith RM. Genetic and epigenetic analysis of the serotonin 2A receptor in the context of cocaine abuse. Epigenetics 2022; 17:1246-1258. [PMID: 34813393 PMCID: PMC9543049 DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2021.2005277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Revised: 10/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite more than 2 million American cocaine users monthly, there is no approved drug for treating cocaine use disorder. Cocaine use disorder has a multifactorial aetiology, including both genetic and environmental factors. Both cocaine use and genetic variations demonstrably alter DNA methylation and gene expression in the brain in a complex manner. How these factors interact in the context of cocaine abuse in humans is unknown. We propose that we can identify potential drug targets for treating cocaine use disorders by examining genetic, epigenetic, and expression changes in the brains of individuals that abused cocaine. In this study, we identified the interaction between the epigenetics changes (DNA CpG methylation) and genetic variants (SNPs) in the HTR2A gene in the context of cocaine addiction by using brain tissue collected from individuals that overdosed on cocaine (N = 14) and healthy matched controls (N = 16). We generated DNA CpG methylation profiles in eight regions of HTR2A harbouring frequent SNPs, measuring both allelic and total methylation, and compared these methylation profiles with HTR2A mRNA expression. Furthermore, we examined the influence of common variants rs6311 and rs6313 on cocaine abuse, methylation, and gene expression. We found evidence that rs6311 regulates HTR2A methylation, consistent with earlier studies. Furthermore, the minor alleles for rs6311 and rs6313 are associated with significantly increased expression of a splice isoform in which exon 2 is truncated in both cocaine and control samples. These results reveal specific roles for HTR2A in the context of cocaine abuse, highlighting opportunities to modulate this target for treating cocaine use disorder.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aysheh Alrfooh
- Department Of Pharmaceutical Sciences And Experimental Therapeutics, College Of Pharmacy, University Of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Ryan M. Smith
- Department Of Pharmaceutical Sciences And Experimental Therapeutics, College Of Pharmacy, University Of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Ma L, Cunningham KA, Anastasio NC, Bjork JM, Taylor BA, Arias AJ, Riley BP, Snyder AD, Moeller FG. A serotonergic biobehavioral signature differentiates cocaine use disorder participants administered mirtazapine. Transl Psychiatry 2022; 12:187. [PMID: 35523779 PMCID: PMC9076859 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-022-01934-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Revised: 04/10/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Cocaine use disorder (CUD) patients display heterogenous symptoms and unforeseeable responses to available treatment approaches, highlighting the need to identify objective, accessible biobehavioral signatures to predict clinical trial success in this population. In the present experiments, we employed a task-based behavioral and pharmacogenetic-fMRI approach to address this gap. Craving, an intense desire to take cocaine, can be evoked by exposure to cocaine-associated stimuli which can trigger relapse during attempted recovery. Attentional bias towards cocaine-associated words is linked to enhanced effective connectivity (EC) from the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) to hippocampus in CUD participants, an observation which was replicated in a new cohort of participants in the present studies. Serotonin regulates attentional bias to cocaine and the serotonergic antagonist mirtazapine decreased activated EC associated with attentional bias, with greater effectiveness in those CUD participants carrying the wild-type 5-HT2CR gene relative to a 5-HT2CR single nucleotide polymorphism (rs6318). These data suggest that the wild-type 5-HT2CR is necessary for the efficacy of mirtazapine to decrease activated EC in CUD participants and that mirtazapine may serve as an abstinence enhancer to mitigate brain substrates of craving in response to cocaine-associated stimuli in participants with this pharmacogenetic descriptor. These results are distinctive in outlining a richer "fingerprint" of the complex neurocircuitry, behavior and pharmacogenetics profile of CUD participants which may provide insight into success of future medications development projects.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liangsuo Ma
- Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States.
- Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States.
| | - Kathryn A Cunningham
- Center for Addiction Research and Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States.
| | - Noelle C Anastasio
- Center for Addiction Research and Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
| | - James M Bjork
- Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
| | - Brian A Taylor
- Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
| | - Albert J Arias
- Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
| | - Brien P Riley
- Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
| | - Andrew D Snyder
- Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
| | - F Gerard Moeller
- Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Maternal Metabolic State and Fetal Sex and Genotype Modulate Methylation of the Serotonin Receptor Type 2A Gene (HTR2A) in the Human Placenta. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10020467. [PMID: 35203678 PMCID: PMC8962258 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10020467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Revised: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The serotonin receptor 2A gene (HTR2A) is a strong candidate for the fetal programming of future behavior and metabolism. Maternal obesity and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have been associated with an increased risk of metabolic and psychological problems in offspring. We tested the hypothesis that maternal metabolic status affects methylation of HTR2A in the placenta. The prospective study included 199 pairs of mothers and healthy full-term newborns. Genomic DNA was extracted from feto-placental samples and analyzed for genotypes of two polymorphisms (rs6311, rs6306) and methylation of four cytosine residues (−1665, −1439, −1421, −1224) in the HTR2A promoter region. Placental HTR2A promoter methylation was higher in male than female placentas and depended on both rs6311 and rs6306 genotypes. A higher maternal pre-gestational body mass index (pBMI) and, to a lesser extent, diagnosis of GDM were associated with reduced HTR2A promoter methylation in female but not male placentas. Higher pBMI was associated with reduced methylation both directly and indirectly through increased GDM incidence. Tobacco use during pregnancy was associated with reduced HTR2A promoter methylation in male but not female placentas. The obtained results suggest that HTR2A is a sexually dimorphic epigenetic target of intrauterine exposures. The findings may contribute to a better understanding of the early developmental origins of neurobehavioral and metabolic disorders associated with altered HTR2A function.
Collapse
|