Superfund Research Program
Title: MicroRNA-29 is an essential regulator of non-CG methylation during brain maturation [Bisulfite-seq]
Accession Number: GSE157841
Link to Dataset: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE157841
Repository: Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO)
Data Type(s): Environmental Science Data, Gene Expression, Underlying data from publication
Experiment Type(s): Methylation profiling by high throughput sequencing
Organism(s): Mus musculus
Summary: While embryonic brain development and neurodegeneration have been examined extensively, the events that govern postnatal brain maturation are less understood. During this period, widespread changes in synaptic connectivity are evident1,2 and, perturbations of synaptic development or maturation can have severe neurobehavioral consequences as seen in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), epilepsy and schizophrenia3-6. Recent studies have led to the unexpected discovery that marked increases in non-canonical (non-CG) DNA methylation occur during postnatal brain maturation7-14. This de novo CH methylation (where H= A, C, T), which occurs 1-4 weeks postnatally in mice and 1-15 years in humans7, is important for experience-dependent fine tuning of gene expression15 . The critical period of CH methylation appears to be mediated by Dnmt3a, the DNA methyltransferase that catalyzes CH methylation8,9. During brain maturation, Dnmt3a levels are elevated and then sharply decline7,16, and a strict control of CH methylation seems important as mutations or variants of Dnmt3a are associated with ASD, epilepsy and intellectual disability17-19. Here we identify the microRNA miR-29 as an essential regulator of Dnmt3a and CH methylation during brain maturation. Mice deficient in miR-29 or mice in which miR-29 can no longer target Dnmt3a exhibit enhanced levels of Dnmt3a, global CH hypermethylation, and repression of neuronal genes specifically associated with synaptic activity and neurotransmission. Importantly, these mice appear normal at birth, but subsequently exhibit severe neurological deficits including susceptibility to seizures and premature lethality. Together, these results identify an essential function of miR-29 in defining the critical period of DNA methylation during brain maturation, the absence of which results in neurobehavioral deficits.
Publication(s) associated with this dataset:- Bako CM, Martinez A, Ewald JM, Hua J, Ramotowski DJ, Dong Q, Schnoor JL, Mattes TE. 2022. Aerobic bioaugmentation to decrease polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) emissions from contaminated sediments to air. Environ Sci Technol 56(20):14338-14349. doi:10.1021/acs.est.2c01043 PMID:36178372 PMCID:PMC9583607
- Swahari V, Nakamura A, Hollville E, Stroud H, Simon JM, Ptacek TS, Beck MV, Flowers C, Guo J, Plestant C, Liang J, Kurtz CL, Kanke M, Hammond SM, He Y, Anton E, Sethupathy P, Moy SS, Greenberg ME, Deshmukh M. 2021. MicroRNA-29 is an essential regulator of brain maturation through regulation of CH methylation. Cell Rep 35(1):doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108946 PMID:33826889 PMCID:PMC8103628
- University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill: Molecular Drivers of Arsenic-Induced Diabetes
- University of Iowa: Mitigating Airborne PCB Emissions from Sediments with Black Carbon Materials and PCB-Degrading Biofilms