We have recently shown that the expression of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase (SAT1) is downregulated across the brains of suicide completers, and that its expression is influenced by genetic variations in the promoter. Several promoter polymorphisms in SAT1, including rs6526342, have been associated with suicide and other psychiatric disorders, and display haplotype-specific effects on expression. However, these effects cannot explain total variability in SAT1 expression, and other regulatory mechanisms, such as epigenetic factors, may also be at play. In this study, we assessed the involvement of epigenetic factors in controlling SAT1 expression in the prefrontal cortex of suicide completers by mapping CpG methylation across a 1880-bp region of the SAT1 promoter, and measuring levels of tri-methylated histone-3-lysine 27 (H3K27me3) at the promoter in suicide completers and controls. Our results demonstrated that CpG methylation was significantly negatively correlated with SAT1 expression. Although overall or site-specific CpG methylation was not associated with suicide or SAT1 expression, we observed high levels of methylation at the polymorphic CpG site created by rs6526342, indicating a relationship between promoter haplotypes and methylation. There was no association between H3K27me3 and suicide, nor was this modification associated with SAT1 expression. Overall, our results indicate that epigenetic factors in the promoter region of SAT1 influence gene expression levels, and may provide a mechanism for both our previous findings of haplotype-specific effects of promoter variations on SAT1 expression, as well as the widespread downregulation of SAT1 expression observed in the brains of suicide completers.

A complex interplay between the pattern of DNA methylation and a large and growing number of post-translational modifications (PTMs) of histones contribute to the epigenetic regulation of gene transcription. This epigenetic regulation involves histone acetylation, phosphorylation and methylation, and is now known to be important for several forms and phases of long-term memory. Anomalies in the epigenome have also been demonstrated to be critical factors in a number of cognitive and behavioural disorders. The epigenetic mechanisms that contribute to these deficits include: first, the dysregulation of key components of the epigenetic machinery; second, alterations in the expression of genes important for cognition and behaviour by epigenetic mechanisms; third, instability at trinucleotide repeats; and fourth, the breakdown of major epigenetic processes like imprinting and X-chromosome inactivation. Thus, both pharmacological and environmental interventions that act on epigenetic mechanisms provide a promising tool for the treatment of a wide variety of cognitive and behavioural disorders.

Epigenetics commonly refers to the developmental process by which cellular traits are established and inherited without a change in DNA sequence. These mechanisms of cellular memory also orchestrate gene expression in the adult brain and recent evidence suggests that the "epigenome" represents a critical interface between environmental signals, activation, repression and maintenance of genomic responses, and persistent behavior. We here review the current state of knowledge regarding the contribution of the epigenome toward the development of psychiatric disorders.(c) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev. Psychobiol.

Studies of environmental challenges, such as hazardous air pollutants, nonmutagenic toxins, diet choice, and maternal behavioral patterns, reveal changes in gene expression patterns, DNA methylation, and histone modifications that are in causal association with exogenous exposures. In this article we summarize some of the recent advances in the field of environmental epigenetics and highlight seminal studies that implicate in utero exposures as causative agents in altering not only the epigenome of the exposed gestation, but that of subsequent generations. Current studies of the effects of maternal behavior, exposure to environmental toxins, and exposure to maternal diet and an altered gestational milieu are summarized.

BACKGROUND: A restrictive chromatin state has been thought to be operant in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Our objective was to ascertain whether differences exist between baseline levels of a repressive chromatin mark such as dimethylated lysine 9 of histone 3 (H3K9me2) in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls and whether a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor in an in vitro assay would differentially affect chromatin structure based on diagnosis. METHODS: We obtained blood samples from 19 healthy controls and 25 patients with schizophrenia and isolated their lymphocytes. We measured baseline H3K9me2 levels (normalized to total histone 1) in the lymphocytes from all participants via Western blot analysis. To examine the effects of an HDAC inhibitor on H3K9me2, we cultured the lymphocytes from participants with trichostatin A (TSA) for 24 hours and then measured changes in H3K9me2 relative to the control condition (dimethyl sulfoxide). RESULTS: Patients with schizophrenia had significantly higher mean baseline levels of H3K9me2 than healthy controls (6.52 v. 2.78, p = 0.028). Moreover, there was a significant negative correlation between age at onset of illness and levels of H3K9me2 (Spearman's rho =-0.588, p = 0.008). In the lymphocyte cultures, TSA induced divergent responses in terms of H3K9me2 levels from patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy controls (F(1,14)= 5.082, p = 0.041). LIMITATIONS: The use of lymphocytes to study schizophrenia has its limitations because they may not be appropriate models of synaptic activity or other brain-specific activities. CONCLUSION: Our results provide further evidence that schizophrenia is associated with a restrictive chromatin state that is also less modifiable using HDAC inhibitors.

The role of methylation in the history of psychiatry has traversed a storied path. The original trans-methylation hypothesis was proposed at a time when chlorpromazine had been synthesized but not yet marketed as an antipyschotic (Thorazine). The premise was that abnormal metabolism led to the methylation of biogenic amines in the brains of schizophrenia patients and that these hallucinogenic compounds produced positive symptoms of the disease. At the time, psychiatry was very interested in drugs such as mescaline and lysergic acid diethyl amide that replicated clinical symptoms and understood that these compounds might provide a biological basis for psychosis. The amino acid methionine (MET) was given to patients in the hopes of confiriming the transmethylation hypothesis. However with time, many realized that the hunt for an endogenous psychotropic compound would remain elusive. We now believe that the MET studies may have produced a toxic reaction in susceptible patients by disrupting epigenetic regulation in the brain. The focus of the current review is on the coordinate regulation of multiple promoters expressed in neurons that may be modulated through methylation. While certainly the identification of genes and promoters regulated epigenetically has been steadily increasing over the years, there have been few studies that examine methylation changes as a consequence of increased levels of a dietary amino acid such as methionine (MET). We suggest that the MET mouse model may provide information regarding the indentification of genes that are regulated by epigenetic perturbations. In addition to our studies with the reelin and GAD67 promoters, we also have evidence that additional promoters expressed in select neurons of the brain are similarly affected by MET administration. We suggest that to expand our knowledge of epigenetically-responsive promoters using MET might allow for a better appreciation of global methylation changes occurring in selected brain regions.

Several lines of schizophrenia (SZ) research suggest that a functional downregulation of the prefrontal cortex GABAergic neuronal system is mediated by a promoter hypermethylation, presumably catalyzed by an increase in DNA-methyltransferase-1 (DNMT-1) expression. This promoter hypermethylation may be mediated not only by DNMT-1 but also by an entire family of de novo DNA-methyltransferases, such as DNA-methyltransferase-3a (DNMT-3a) and -3b (DNMT-3b). To verify the existence of an overexpression of DNMT-3a and DNMT-3b in the brain of schizophrenia patients (SZP), we compared their mRNA expression in Brodmann's area 10 (BA10) and in the caudate nucleus and putamen obtained from the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center (Belmont, MA) from both nonpsychiatric subjects (NPS) and SZP. Our results demonstrate that DNMT-3a and DNMT-1 are expressed and co-localize in distinct GABAergic neuron populations whereas DNMT-3b mRNA is virtually undetectable. We also found that unlike DNMT-1, which is frequently overexpressed in telencephalic GABAergic neurons of SZP, DNMT-3a mRNA is overexpressed only in layer I and II GABAergic interneurons of BA10. To ascertain whether these DNMT expression differences observed in brain tissue could also be detected in peripheral tissues, we studied whether DNMT-1 and DNMT-3a mRNAs were overexpressed in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of SZP. Both DNMT-1 and DNMT-3a mRNAs are expressed in the PBL and although DNMT-3a mRNA levels in the PBL are approximately 1/10 of those of DNMT-1, the comparison of the PBL content in NPS and SZP showed a highly significant 2-fold increase of both DNMT-1 and DNMT-3a mRNA in SZP. These changes were unaffected by the dose, the duration, or the type of antipsychotic treatment. The upregulation of DNMT-1 and to a lesser extent that of DNMT-3a mRNA in PBL of SZP supports the concept that this readily available peripheral cell type can express an epigenetic variation of specific biomarkers relevant to SZ morbidity. Hence, PBL studies may become useful to investigate a diagnostic epigenetic marker of SZ morbidity.

BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment and early trauma leave lasting imprints on neural mechanisms of cognition and emotion. With a rat model of infant maltreatment by a caregiver, we investigated whether early-life adversity leaves lasting epigenetic marks at the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene in the central nervous system. METHODS: During the first postnatal week, we exposed infant rats to stressed caretakers that predominately displayed abusive behaviors. We then assessed DNA methylation patterns and gene expression throughout the life span as well as DNA methylation patterns in the next generation of infants. RESULTS: Early maltreatment produced persisting changes in methylation of BDNF DNA that caused altered BDNF gene expression in the adult prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, we observed altered BDNF DNA methylation in offspring of females that had previously experienced the maltreatment regimen. CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight an epigenetic molecular mechanism potentially underlying lifelong and transgenerational perpetuation of changes in gene expression and behavior incited by early abuse and neglect.

The neuronal GABAergic mechanisms that mediate the symptomatic beneficial effects elicited by a combination of antipsychotics with valproate (a histone deacetylase inhibitor) in the treatment of psychosis (expressed by schizophrenia or bipolar disorder patients) are unknown. This prompted us to investigate whether the beneficial action of this combination results from a modification of histone tail covalent esterification or is secondary to specific chromatin remodeling. The results suggest that clozapine, or sulpiride associated with valproate, by increasing DNA demethylation with an unknown mechanism, causes a chromatin remodeling that brings about a beneficial change in the epigenetic GABAergic dysfunction typical of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients.

Evidence is emerging that several diseases and behavioral pathologies result from defects in gene function. The best-studied example is cancer, but other diseases such as autoimmune disease, asthma, type 2 diabetes, metabolic disorders, and autism display aberrant gene expression. Gene function may be altered by either a change in the sequence of the DNA or a change in epigenetic programming of a gene in the absence of a sequence change.With epigenetic drugs, it is possible to reverse aberrant gene expression profiles associated with different disease states. Several epigenetic drugs targeting the DNA methylation and histone deacetylation enzymes have been tested in clinical trials. Understanding the epigenetic machinery and the differential roles of its components in specific disease states is essential for developing targeted epigenetic therapy. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology Volume 49 is January 06, 2009. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/catalog/pubdates.aspx for revised estimates.

RATIONALE: Cortical gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic neurons contribute to the orchestration of pyramidal neuron population firing as follows:(1) by releasing GABA on GABA(A) and GABA(B) receptors,(2) by releasing reelin in the proximity of integrin receptors located on cortical pyramidal neuron dendritic spines, and (3) through reelin contributing to the regulation of dendritic spine plasticity by modulating dendritic resident mRNA translation. In schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar (BP) postmortem brains, the downregulation of mRNAs encoding glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD(67)) and reelin decreases the cognate proteins coexpressed in prefrontal cortex (PFC) GABAergic neurons. This finding has been replicated in several laboratories. Such downregulation suggests that the neuropil hypoplasticity found in the PFC of SZ and BP disorder patients may depend on a downregulation of GABAergic function, which is associated with a decrease in reelin secretion from GABAergic neuron axon terminals on dendrites, somata, or axon initial segments of pyramidal neurons. Indirectly, this GABAergic neuron downregulation may play a key role in the expression of positive and negative symptoms of SZ and BP disorders. OBJECTIVES: The above described GABAergic dysfunction may be addressed by pharmacological interventions to treat SZ and BP disorders using specific benzodiazepines (BZs), which are devoid of intrinsic activity at GABA(A) receptors including alpha(1) subunits but that act as full positive allosteric modulators of GABA action at GABA(A) receptors containing alpha(2), alpha(3), or alpha(5) subunits. These drugs are expected to enhance GABAergic signal transduction without eliciting sedation, amnesia, and tolerance or dependence liabilities. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: BZs, such as diazepam, although they are efficient in equilibrating GABA(A) receptor signal transduction in a manner beneficial in the treatment of positive and negative symptoms of SZ, may not be ideal drugs, because by mediating a full positive allosteric modulation of GABA(A) receptors containing the alpha(1) subunit, they contribute to sedation and to the development of tolerance after even a brief period of treatment. In contrast, other BZ-binding site ligands, such as 6-(2bromophenyl)-8-fluoro-4H-imidazo [1,5-a][1,4] benzodiazepine-3-carboxamide (imidazenil), which fail to allosterically and positively modulate the action of GABA at GABA(A) receptors with alpha(1) subunits but that selectively allosterically modulate cortical GABA(A) receptors containing alpha(5) subunits, contribute to the anxiolytic, antipanic, and anticonvulsant actions of these ligands without producing sedation, amnesia, or tolerance. Strong support for the use of imidazenil in psychosis emerges from experiments with reeler mice or with methionine-treated mice, which express a pronounced reelin and GAD(67) downregulation that is also operative in SZ and BP disorders. In mice that model SZ symptoms, imidazenil increases signal transduction at GABA(A) receptors containing alpha(5) subunits and contributes to the reduction of behavioral deficits without producing sedation or tolerance liability. Hence, we suggest that imidazenil may be considered a prototype for a new generation of positive allosteric modulators of GABA(A) receptors, which, either alone or in combination with neuroleptics, should be evaluated in GABAergic dysfunction operative in the treatment of SZ and BP disorders with psychosis.

Schizophrenia postmortem brain is characterized by gamma aminobutyric acid downregulation and by decreased dendritic spine density in frontal cortex. Protracted L-methionine treatment exacerbates schizophrenia symptoms, and our earlier work (Tremolizzo et al. and Dong et al.) has shown that L-methionine decreases reelin and GAD67 transcription in mice which is prevented by co-administration of valproate. In this study, we observed a decrease in spine density following L-methionine treatment, which was prevented by co-administration of valproate. Together with our earlier findings conducted under the same experimental conditions, we suggest that downregulation of spine density in L-methionine-treated mice may be because of the decreased expression of reelin and that valproate may prevent spine downregulation by inhibiting the methylation induced decrease in reelin.

The neuronal GABAergic mechanisms that mediate the symptomatic beneficial effects elicited by a combination of antipsychotics with valproate (a histone deacetylase inhibitor) in the treatment of psychosis (expressed by schizophrenia or bipolar disorder patients) are unknown. This prompted us to investigate whether the beneficial action of this combination results from a modification of histone tail covalent esterification or is secondary to specific chromatin remodeling. The results suggest that clozapine, or sulpiride associated with valproate, by increasing DNA demethylation with an unknown mechanism, causes a chromatin remodeling that brings about a beneficial change in the epigenetic GABAergic dysfunction typical of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients.

In this review, we discuss changes in the regulation of gene expression in the central nervous system (CNS) associated with DNA (cytosine-5) methylation, chromatin remodeling and post-translational covalent modifications of histones. During brain development, abnormal intrinsic or extrinsic cues may compromise epigenetic processes regulating neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation and thus directly or indirectly could contribute to altered epiphenotypes leading to psychiatric disorders. These mechanisms, that include chromatin remodeling and reversible changes in promoter methylation patterns, are largely expressed by terminally differentiated cortical GABAergic neurons. These neurons are unique among various brain cell subtypes because they express high levels of DNA-methyltransferase-1 (DNMT1). Moreover, DNMT1 expression is further increased in schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar (BP) disorder brains. To unravel how this pathological DNMT1 overexpression induces GABAergic neuronal dysfunction in SZ and in other psychoses, we report on how alterations in methylation modify the expression of susceptible vulnerability genes such as reelin or GAD67 in these neurons. The results encourage the view that promoter hypermethylation in GABAergic neurons that occurs in SZ represents a testable target for novel therapeutic strategies to treat this disorder.

In the cerebral prefrontal cortex (PFC), DNA-methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), the enzyme that catalyzes the methylation of cytosine at carbon atoms in position 5 in CpG dinucleotides, is expressed selectively in GABAergic neurons and is upregulated in layers I and II of schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder patients with psychosis (BDP). To replicate these earlier findings and to verify whether overexpression of DNMT1 and the consequent epigenetic decrease of reelin and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) 67 mRNA expression also occur in GABAergic medium spiny neurons of the caudate nucleus (CN) and putamen (PT) of SZ and BDP, we studied the entire McLean 66 Cohort (Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA) including SZ and BDP, which were matched with nonpsychiatric subjects. The data demonstrate that in GABAergic medium spiny neurons of CN and PT, unlike in GABAergic neurons of layer I and II PFC, the increased expression of DNMT1 and the decrease of reelin and GAD67 occur in SZ but not in BDP. This suggests that different epigenetic mechanisms must exist in the pathogenesis underlying SZ and BDP and implies that these disorders might involve two separate entities that are characterized by a well-defined neuropathology.

Allopregnanolone (ALLO) and tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone (THDOC) are potent positive allosteric modulators of GABA action at GABAA receptors. ALLO and THDOC are synthesized in the brain from progesterone or deoxycorticosterone, respectively, by the sequential action of two enzymes: 5alpha-reductase (5alpha-R) type I and 3alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3alpha-HSD). This study evaluates 5alpha-R type I and 3alpha-HSD mRNA expression level in mouse brain by using in situ hybridization combined with glutamic acid decarboxylase 67/65, vesicular glutamate transporter 2, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and S100beta immunohistochemistry. We demonstrate that 5alpha-R type I and 3alpha-HSD colocalize in cortical, hippocampal, and olfactory bulb glutamatergic principal neurons and in some output neurons of the amygdala and thalamus. Neither 5alpha-R type I nor 3alpha-HSD mRNAs are expressed in S100beta- or glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive glial cells. Using glutamic acid decarboxylase 67/65 antibodies to mark GABAergic neurons, we failed to detect 5alpha-R type I and 3alpha-HSD in cortical and hippocampal GABAergic interneurons. However, 5alpha-R type I and 3alpha-HSD are significantly expressed in principal GABAergic output neurons, such as striatal medium spiny, reticular thalamic nucleus, and cerebellar Purkinje neurons. A similar distribution and cellular location of neurosteroidogenic enzymes was observed in rat brain. Taken together, these data suggest that ALLO and THDOC, which can be synthesized in principal output neurons, modulate GABA action at GABAA receptors, either with an autocrine or a paracrine mechanism or by reaching GABAA receptor intracellular sites through lateral membrane diffusion.

In cortex and hippocampus, protracted (>4 weeks) social isolation of adult male mice alters the subunit expression of GABA type A receptors (GABA(A)-Rs) as follows:(i) the mRNAs encoding GABA(A)-R alpha1, alpha2, and gamma2 subunits are decreased by approximately 50%, whereas those encoding alpha4 and alpha5 subunits are increased by approximately 100%;(ii) similarly, the synaptic membrane expression of the alpha1 subunit protein is down-regulated, and that of the alpha5 subunit protein is up-regulated; and (iii) the binding of [(3)H]flumazenil to hippocampal synaptic membranes is decreased. Behaviorally, socially isolated (SI) mice are resistant to the sedative effects of the positive allosteric GABA(A)-R modulators diazepam (DZP) and zolpidem. This resistance seems to be attributable to the decrease of alpha1-containing GABA(A)-Rs. Paradoxically, DZP, which, unlike zolpidem, acts at alpha5-containing GABA(A)-Rs, increases the locomotor activity of SI mice. Imidazenil, which fails to modulate alpha1-, alpha4-, and alpha6-containing GABA(A)-Rs but is a selective positive allosteric modulator of alpha5-containing GABA(A)-Rs, also increases locomotor activity in SI mice. Importantly, SI mice responded to muscimol, 4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo[5,4-c]pyridin-3(2H)-one, and allopregnanolone similar to group-housed mice. These data suggest that a switch (a decrease in alpha1/alpha2 and gamma2 and an increase in alpha4 and alpha5 subunits) in the composition of the heteropentameric GABA(A)-R subunit assembly without a change in total GABA(A)-R number occurs during social isolation. Thus, the repertoire of DZP and imidazenil actions in SI mice appears to be elicited by the allosteric modulation of GABA(A)-Rs overexpressing alpha5 subunits. Benzodiazepine response mediated by alpha1-containing GABA(A)-Rs is expected to be silent or reduced.

BACKGROUND: Reelin and GAD(67) expression is downregulated in cortical interneurons of schizophrenia (SZ) patients. This downregulation is probably mediated by epigenetic hypermethylation of the respective promoters caused by the selective increase of DNA-methyltransferase 1 in GABAergic neurons. Mice receiving methionine (MET) provide an epigenetic model for neuropathologies related to SZ. We studied whether MET-induced epigenetic reelin promoter hypermethylation and the associated behavioral alterations can be reduced by valproate in doses that inhibit histone deacetylases (HDACs). METHODS: Mice treated with either methionine (MET)(5.2 mmol/kg/SC/twice daily) or valproate (1.5 mmol/kg/SC/twice daily) or MET+ valproate combination were tested for prepulse inhibition of startle (PPI) and social interaction (SI). S-adenosylmethionine, acetylated histone 3, reelin promoter methylation, and reelin mRNA were assayed in the frontal cortex. RESULTS: Valproate enhances acetylated histone 3 content, and prevents MET-induced reelin promoter hypermethylation, reelin mRNA downregulation, and PPI and SI deficits. Imidazenil, a positive allosteric modulator at GABA(A) receptors containing alpha(5) subunits but inactive at receptors including alpha(1) subunits, normalizes MET-induced behavioral changes. CONCLUSION: This MET-induced epigenetic mouse models the neurochemical and behavioral aspects of SZ that can be corrected by positively modulating the action of GABA at alpha(5)-containing GABA(A) receptors with imidazenil or by inhibiting HDACs with valproate, thus opening exciting new avenues for treatment of epigenetically modified chromatin in SZ morbidity.

Cortical DNA-methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) is preferentially expressed in interneurons secreting GABA where it very likely contributes to promoter CpG island hypermethylation, thus causing a down-regulation of promoter functions. To consolidate and expand on previous findings that, in the cortex of schizophrenia (SZ) brains, glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67) expression is down-regulated whereas that of DNMT1 is up-regulated, we studied both parameters in Brodmann's area (BA) 9 from the McLean 66 Cohort Collection (Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center, Belmont, MA). In BA9 of SZ and bipolar disorder patients with psychosis, DNMT1 mRNA and protein expression preferentially increases in layer I, II, and IV interneurons, and this increase is paralleled by a decreased number of GAD67 mRNA-positive neurons. The increase in DNMT1 and the decrease in GAD67-expressing neurons were unrelated to postmortem interval, pH, RNA quality, or to the presence, dose, or duration of antipsychotic (APS) medication, with the exception of a subgroup of SZ patients treated with a combination of valproate and APS in which the expression of DNMT1 failed to change. The DNMT1 increase and the GAD67 decrease in BA9 interneurons are significant features of SZ and bipolar disorder with psychosis. Interestingly, the DNMT1 increase failed to occur when patients with psychosis received a combination of valproate and APS treatment but not APS monotherapy.

The polygenic nature of complex psychiatric disorders suggests a common pathway that may be involved in the down-regulation of multiple genes through an epigenetic mechanism. To investigate the role of methylation in down-regulating the expression of mRNAs that may be associated with the schizophrenia phenotype, we have adopted a cell-culture model amenable to this line of investigation. We have administered methionine (2 mM) to primary cultures of cortical neurons prepared from embryonic day 16 mice and show that this treatment down-regulated reelin and glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67) mRNA expression but not that corresponding to neuron-specific enolase mRNA. Moreover, methionine increased methylation of the reelin promoter, suggesting a possible mechanism for the observed change. These cultures contain a mixed population of neurons and glia. Approximately 83% of the neurons are GABAergic based on GAD immunoreactivity, and these neurons coexpress high levels of reelin and DNA methyltransferase (Dnmt) 1 immunoreactivity. To examine whether Dnmt1 regulates reelin gene expression, we used an antisense approach to reduce (knock down) Dnmt1 expression. The reduced Dnmt1 mRNA and protein were accompanied by increased reelin mRNA expression. More importantly, the Dnmt1 knockdown blocked the methionine-induced reelin and GAD67 mRNA down-regulation. These data support the hypothesis that the reduced amounts of reelin and GAD67 mRNAs documented in postmortem schizophrenia brain may be the consequence of a Dnmt1-mediated hypermethylation of the corresponding promoters.

Human studies suggest that a variety of prenatal stressors are related to high risk for cognitive and behavioral abnormalities associated with psychiatric illness (Markham and Koenig, 2011). Recently, a downregulation in the expression of GABAergic genes (i.e., glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 and reelin) associated with DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) overexpression in GABAergic neurons has been regarded as a characteristic phenotypic component of the neuropathology of psychotic disorders (Guidotti et al., 2011). Here, we characterized mice exposed to prenatal restraint stress (PRS) in order to study neurochemical and behavioral abnormalities related to development of schizophrenia in the adult. Offspring born from non-stressed mothers (control mice) showed high levels of DNMT1 and 3a mRNA expression in the frontal cortex at birth, but these levels progressively decreased at post-natal days (PND) 7, 14, and 60. Offspring born from stressed mothers (PRS mice) showed increased levels of DNMTs compared to controls at all time-points studied including at birth and at PND 60. Using GAD67-GFP transgenic mice, we established that, in both control and PRS mice, high levels of DNMT1 and 3a were preferentially expressed in GABAergic neurons of frontal cortex and hippocampus. Importantly, the overexpression of DNMT in GABAergic neurons was associated with a decrease in reelin and GAD67 expression in PRS mice in early and adult life. PRS mice also showed an increased binding of DNMT1 and MeCP2, and an increase in 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in specific CpG-rich regions of the reelin and GAD67 promoters. Thus, the epigenetic changes in PRS mice are similar to changes observed in the post-mortem brains of psychiatric patients. Behaviorally, adult PRS mice showed hyperactivity and deficits in social interaction, prepulse inhibition, and fear-conditioning that were corrected by administration of valproic acid (a histone deacetylase inhibitor) or clozapine (an atypical antipsychotic with DNA-demethylation activity). Taken together, these data show that prenatal stress in mice induces abnormalities in the DNA methylation network and in behaviors indicative of a schizophrenia-like phenotype. Thus, PRS mice may be a valid model for the investigation of new drugs for schizophrenia treatment targeting DNA methylation. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Neurodevelopment Disorder'.

Aberrant neocortical DNA methylation has been suggested to be a pathophysiological contributor to psychotic disorders. Recently, a growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible, beta (GADD45b) protein-coordinated DNA demethylation pathway, utilizing cytidine deaminases and thymidine glycosylases, has been identified in the brain. We measured expression of several members of this pathway in parietal cortical samples from the Stanley Foundation Neuropathology Consortium (SFNC) cohort. We find an increase in GADD45b mRNA and protein in patients with psychosis. In immunohistochemistry experiments using samples from the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center, we report an increased number of GADD45b-stained cells in prefrontal cortical layers II, III, and V in psychotic patients. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor IX (BDNF IXabcd) was selected as a readout gene to determine the effects of GADD45b expression and promoter binding. We find that there is less GADD45b binding to the BDNF IXabcd promoter in psychotic subjects. Further, there is reduced BDNF IXabcd mRNA expression, and an increase in 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine at its promoter. On the basis of these results, we conclude that GADD45b may be increased in psychosis compensatory to its inability to access gene promoter regions.

INTRODUCTION HTR2A gene has been the subject of numerous studies in psychiatric genetics because LSD, which resembles serotonin causes psychosis and atypical antipsychotic drugs target the HTR2A receptor. However, evidence for the role of HTR2A polymorphism(s) in schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) has been elusive. We hypothesized that epigenetic dysregulation of HTR2A may be involved in psycho-pathogenesis and analyzed promoter DNA methylome and expression of HTR2A in SCZ, BD and control subjects. METHOD DNA derived from post-mortem brains of patients with SCZ and BD and matched control subjects (each 35) were obtained from the Stanley Medical Research Institute. While bisulfite DNA sequencing was used to screen and quantify cytosine methylation in the HTR2A promoter, corresponding gene expression was analyzed by qRT-PCR. RESULTS We found strong evidence for epigenetic fine-tuning of HTR2A expression. In general, the expression of HTR2A in individuals carrying the C allele of T102C (or G allele of -1438A/G polymorphism) was higher than TT genotype. Interestingly, promoter DNA of HTR2A was hypermethylated at and around the -1438A/G polymorphic site, but was hypomethylated at and around T102C polymorphic site in SCZ and BD compared to the controls. Furthermore, epigenetic down-regulation of HTR2A was associated with early age of disease onset in SCZ and BD. CONCLUSION Epigenetic dysregulation of HTR2A may contribute to SCZ, BD and earlier age of disease onset. Further research is required to delineate the dysregulation of other components of serotoninergic pathway to design new therapeutics based on the downstream effects of serotonin.

High levels of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), hypermethylation, and downregulation of GAD(67) and reelin have been described in GABAergic interneurons of patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar (BP) disorders. However, overexpression of DNMT1 is lethal, making it difficult to assess the direct effect of high levels of DNMT1 on neuronal development in vivo. We therefore used Dnmt1(tet/tet) mouse ES cells that overexpress DNMT1 as an in vitro model to investigate the impact of high levels of DNMT1 on neuronal differentiation. Although there is down-regulation of DNMT1 during early stages of differentiation in wild type and Dnmt1(tet/tet) ES cell lines, neurons derived from Dnmt1(tet/tet) cells showed abnormal dendritic arborization and branching. The Dnmt1(tet/tet) neuronal cells also showed elevated levels of functional N-methyl d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), a feature also reported in some neurological and neurodegenerative disorders. Considering the roles of reelin and GAD(67) in neuronal networking and excitatory/inhibitory balance, respectively, we studied methylation of these genes' promoters in Dnmt1(tet/tet) ES cells and neurons. Both reelin and GAD(67) promoters were not hypermethylated in the Dnmt1(tet/tet) ES cells and neurons, suggesting that overexpression of DNMT1 may not directly result in methylation-mediated repression of these two genes. Taken together, our results suggest that overexpression of DNMT1 in ES cells results in an epigenetic change prior to the onset of differentiation. This epigenetic change in turn results in abnormal neuronal differentiation and upregulation of functional NMDA receptor.

Postmortem and in vivo studies of schizophrenia frequently reveal reduced cortical volume, but the underlying cellular abnormalities are incompletely defined. One influential hypothesis, especially investigated in Brodmann's area 9 of prefrontal cortex, is that the number of neurons is normal, and the volume change is caused by reduction of the surrounding neuropil. However, studies have differed on whether the cortex has the increased neuron density that is predicted by this hypothesis. In a recent study of bilateral planum temporale (PT), we reported smaller volume and width of the outer cortex (layers I-III), especially in the left hemisphere, among subjects with schizophrenia. In the present study, we measured neuron density and size in the same PT samples, and also in prefrontal area 9 of the same brains. In the PT, separate stereological measurements were made in layers II, IIIc, and VI, whereas area 9 was sampled in layer IIIb-c. In both cortical regions, there was no significant effect of schizophrenia on neuronal density or size. There was, nevertheless, a trend-level right>left hemispheric asymmetry of neuron density in the PT, which may partially explain the previously reported left>right asymmetry of cortical width. In schizophrenia, our findings suggest that closer packing of neurons may not always explain reduced cortical volume, and subtly decreased neuron number may be a contributing factor.

MicroRNA (miRNA) are capable of regulating multitudes of target genes and are essential factors in mediating healthy neurodevelopment. We hypothesize that abnormal miRNA levels contribute to the complex global changes in gene expression that underlie the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. With a commercial bead array platform, we investigated miRNA expression in 74 samples of postmortem dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann Area 46)(n = 37 matched pairs schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder and control subjects). A subset of differentially expressed miRNA and genes in the miRNA biogenesis pathway was also analyzed with quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Gene targets of miRNAs demonstrating significantly altered expression were predicted, and pathways analysis was performed. After correction for multiple testing, microarray analysis identified differential expression of 28 miRNA in the schizophrenia group. Significantly, 89% of these molecules were elevated in accordance with earlier work in other brain regions that showed a broad increase in miRNA expression in schizophrenia. These observations were supported by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, for miR-328, miR-17-5p, miR-134, miR-652, miR-382, and miR-107 and were consistent with a schizophrenia-associated increase in miRNA processing through elevated Dicer expression. Target and pathways analysis provided insight into the potential cellular effects, with particular enrichment of miRNA targets in axon guidance and long-term potentiation. These results suggest that schizophrenia is associated with altered miRNA biogenesis and expression, which might have important implications in the complex pathophysiology of the disorder.

Parenting and the early environment influence the risk for various psychopathologies. Studies in the rat suggest that variations in maternal care stably influence DNA methylation, gene expression, and neural function in the offspring. Maternal care affects neural development, including the GABAergic system, the function of which is linked to the pathophysiology of diseases including schizophrenia and depression. Postmortem studies of human schizophrenic brains have revealed decreased forebrain expression of glutamic acid decarboxylase 1 (GAD1) accompanied by increased methylation of a GAD1 promoter. We examined whether maternal care affects GAD1 promoter methylation in the hippocampus of adult male offspring of high and low pup licking/grooming (high-LG and low-LG) mothers. Compared with the offspring of low-LG mothers, those reared by high-LG dams showed enhanced hippocampal GAD1 mRNA expression, decreased cytosine methylation, and increased histone 3-lysine 9 acetylation (H3K9ac) of the GAD1 promoter. DNA methyltransferase 1 expression was significantly higher in the offspring of low- compared with high-LG mothers. Pup LG increases hippocampal serotonin (5-HT) and nerve growth factor-inducible factor A (NGFI-A) expression. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed enhanced NGFI-A association with and H3K9ac of the GAD1 promoter in the hippocampus of high-LG pups after a nursing bout. Treatment of hippocampal neuronal cultures with either 5-HT or an NGFI-A expression plasmid significantly increased GAD1 mRNA levels. The effect of 5-HT was blocked by a short interfering RNA targeting NGFI-A. These results suggest that maternal care influences the development of the GABA system by altering GAD1 promoter methylation levels through the maternally induced activation of NGFI-A and its association with the GAD1 promoter.

The methylation and demethylation of CpG dinucleotides that are embedded in promoters play an important role in controlling gene transcription. In the mammalian brain, CpG promoter methylation is a postreplicative process mediated by a group of DNA methyltransferases (DNMT), such as DNMT1 and DNMT3a, DNMT3b. Several studies demonstrate that in addition to DNMTs, promoter methylation in the brain can be regulated by a putative DNA demethylation process that specifically removes the methyl group from the carbon-5 of cytosines. To test the existence of a possible active DNA demethylation activity in postmitotic neuronal or glial cells, we incubated an SssI methylated mouse reelin (Reln) promoter fragment (-720 to +140) with nuclear extracts from the mouse frontal cortex (FC). We observed the presence of DNA demethylation activity, which was increased in FC nuclear extracts from mice treated with valproate (VPA, 2.2 mmol/kg, twice a day for 3 days). VPA not only reduces anxiety, and cognitive deficits, and other symptoms in bipolar disorder (BP) disorder and schizophrenia (SZ) patients but also upregulates Reln and glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (Gad67) mRNA/protein expression by reducing the methylation of their promoters. We believe that the identification of an enzyme in brain that facilitates DNA-demethylation and an understanding of how drugs induce DNA demethylation are crucial to progress in a new line of pharmacological interventions to treat neurodevelopment, neuropsychiatric, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Reelin is an extracellular matrix protein synthesized in cerebellar granule cells that plays an important role in Purkinje cell positioning during cerebellar development and in modulating adult synaptic function. In the cerebellum of schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar (BP) disorder patients, there is a marked decrease ( approximately 50%) of reelin expression. In this study we measured Purkinje neuron density in the Purkinje cell layer of cerebella of 13 SZ and 17 BP disorder patients from the McLean 66 Cohort Collection, Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center. The mean number of Purkinje neurons (linear density, neurons per millimeter) was 20% lower in SZ and BP disorder patients compared with nonpsychiatric subjects (NPS; n = 24). This decrease of Purkinje neuron linear density was unrelated to postmortem interval, pH, drugs of abuse, or to the presence, dose, or duration of antipsychotic medications. A comparative study in the cerebella of heterozygous reeler mice (HRM), in which reelin expression is down-regulated by approximately 50%, showed a significant loss in the number of Purkinje cells in HRM (10-15%) compared with age-matched (3-9 months) wild-type mice. This finding suggests that lack of reelin impairs GABAergic Purkinje neuron expression and/or positioning during cerebellar development.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the gene encoding the serine/threonine kinase KIS (Kinase Interacting with Stathmin, also known as UHMK1) have recently been associated with schizophrenia. As none of the disease associated SNPs are coding, they may confer susceptibility by altering some facet of KIS expression. Here we have characterised the cellular distribution of KIS in human brain using in situ hybridisation and immunohistochemistry, and quantified KIS protein and mRNA in two large brain series to determine if KIS expression is altered in schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or in relation to a schizophrenia-associated SNP (rs7513662). Post-mortem tissue from the superior temporal gyrus of schizophrenia and control subjects, and also dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and cerebellum from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and control subjects were used. KIS expression was measured by quantitative PCR (mRNA) and immunoautoradiography (protein), and was also quantified by immunoblot in lymphoblast cell lines derived from schizophrenia and control subjects. Our results demonstrate that KIS is expressed in neurons, and its encoded protein is localised to the nucleus and cytoplasm. No difference in KIS expression was found between diagnostic groups, or in the lymphoblast cell lines, and no effect of rs7513662 genotype on KIS expression was found. Hence, these data do not provide support for the hypothesis that altered expression is the mechanism by which genetic variation of KIS may increase susceptibility to schizophrenia, nor evidence that KIS expression is altered in the disease itself, at least in terms of the parameters studied here.