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A critical role for dynamic changes in histone H3 methylation at the Bdnf promoter during postnatal thermotolerance acquisition
Author(s) -
Kisliouk Tatiana,
Meiri Noam
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2009.06957.x
Subject(s) - histone h3 , biology , histone methyltransferase , epigenetics , ezh2 , histone , chromatin immunoprecipitation , chromatin , gene silencing , histone methylation , microbiology and biotechnology , gene expression , genetics , promoter , dna methylation , gene
As with other sensory mechanisms, determination of the thermal‐control set point is refined during a critical period of development by alterations in cellular properties in the frontal hypothalamus. These alterations in hypothalamic plasticity are achieved by renewal of the protein repertoire via activation or silencing of gene transcription, both of which are regulated by histone modifications. This study demonstrates induction of global histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27) dimethylation, with no changes in its trimethylation levels, in the frontal hypothalamus, as well as at the promoter of the brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene during thermal‐control establishment. Furthermore, antisense ‘knockdown’ of the H3K27‐specific methyltransferase, enhancer of zeste 2, which was induced in correlation with the dimethylation of H3K27, inhibited Bdnf mRNA expression and disrupted the establishment of thermoregulation. This phenotypic effect was partially rescued by intracranial injection of BDNF. The presented findings highlight the specific epigenetic role of chromatin modifications in thermal‐control establishment.