| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
1b Promoter and Estrogen Receptor- Expression in the Medial Preoptic Area of Female Offspring
Douglas Hospital Research Center (F.A.C., I.C.G.W., S.D., M.J.M.), Montréal, Québec, Canada H4H 1R3; and McGill Program for the Study of Behaviour, Genes, and Environment (F.A.C., I.C.G.W., J.D., M.S., M.J.M.) and Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (S.D., M.S.), McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3G 1Y6
Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Michael J. Meaney, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, 6875 LaSalle Boulevard, Montréal, Québec, Canada H4H 1R3. E-mail: michael.meaney{at}mcgill.ca; or moshe.szyf{at}mcgill.ca.
Variations in maternal behavior are associated with differences in estrogen receptor (ER)-
expression in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) and are transmitted across generations such that, as adults, the female offspring of mothers that exhibit increased pup licking/grooming (LG) over the first week postpartum (i.e. high LG mothers) show increased ER expression in the MPOA and are themselves high LG mothers. In the present studies, cross-fostering confirmed an association between maternal care and ER expression in the MPOA; the biological offspring of low LG mothers fostered at birth to high LG dams show increased ER expression in the MPOA. Cross-fostering the biological offspring of high LG mothers to low LG dams produces the opposite effect. We examined whether the maternal programing of ER expression is associated with differences in methylation of the relevant ER promoter. Levels of cytosine methylation across the ER1b promoter were significantly elevated in the adult offspring of low, compared with high, LG mothers. Differentially methylated regions included a signal transducer and activator of transcription (Stat)5 binding site and the results of chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed decreased Stat5b binding to the ER1b promoter in the adult offspring of low, compared with high, LG mothers. Finally, we found increased Stat5b levels in the MPOA of neonates reared by high, compared with low, LG mothers. These findings suggest that maternal care is associated with cytosine methylation of the ER1b promoter, providing a potential mechanism for the programming of individual differences in ER expression and maternal behavior in the female offspring.
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  L. Strathearn, J. Li, P. Fonagy, and P. R. Montague What's in a Smile? Maternal Brain Responses to Infant Facial Cues Pediatrics, July 1, 2008; 122(1): 40 - 51. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A D. Smith, Y.-I. Kim, and H. Refsum Is folic acid good for everyone? Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, March 1, 2008; 87(3): 517 - 533. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. R. Isles and L. S. Wilkinson Epigenetics: what is it and why is it important to mental disease? Br. Med. Bull., March 1, 2008; 85(1): 35 - 45. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. Monje, J. Varayoud, E. H Luque, and J. G Ramos Neonatal exposure to bisphenol A modifies the abundance of estrogen receptor {alpha} transcripts with alternative 5'-untranslated regions in the female rat preoptic area J. Endocrinol., July 1, 2007; 194(1): 201 - 212. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. M. Levenson DNA (Cytosine-5) Methyltransferase Inhibitors: A Potential Therapeutic Agent for Schizophrenia Mol. Pharmacol., March 1, 2007; 71(3): 635 - 637. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. C. Whitelaw and E. Whitelaw How lifetimes shape epigenotype within and across generations Hum. Mol. Genet., October 15, 2006; 15(suppl_2): R131 - R137. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Endocrinology | Endocrine Reviews | J. Clin. End. & Metab. |
| Molecular Endocrinology | Recent Prog. Horm. Res. | All Endocrine Journals |
