January 18th, 2013

The finding of the collaborative research team of Nagoya University, Meijo University, Kyoto Unversity and an American university was published in "Science" (January 18th,advance online publication).

Summary:

Environmental stressors during childhood and adolescence influence postnatal brain maturation and human behavioral patterns in adulthood. Accordingly, excess stressors result in adult-onset neuropsychiatric disorders. Here the research team presents an underlying mechanism by linking adolescent stressors to epigenetic controls in neurons via glucocorticoids. A mild isolation stress affects mesocortical projection of dopaminergic neurons in which DNA hypermethylation of the tyrosine hydroxylase gene is elicited, only when combined with a relevant genetic risk for neuropsychiatric disorders. Associated with these molecular changes several neurochemical and behavioral deficits occur in this mouse model, all of which are blocked by a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist. Furthermore, the face and predictive validities of the mice offer a model for psychotic depression, a common and debilitating psychiatric disease.