Exploring the potential relationship between Notch pathway genes expression and their promoter methylation in mice hippocampal neurogenesis.

Exploring the potential relationship between Notch pathway genes expression and their promoter methylation in mice hippocampal neurogenesis. Brain Res Bull. 2015 Feb 17; Authors: Zhang Z, Gao F, Kang X, Li J, Zhang L, Dong W, Jin Z, Li F, Gao N, Cai X, Yang S, Zhang J, Ren X, Yang X Abstract The Notch pathway is a highly conserved pathway that regulates hippocampal neurogenesis during embryonic development and adulthood. It has become apparent that intracellular epigenetic modification including DNA methylation is deeply involved in fate specification of neural stem cells (NSCs). However, it is still unclear whether the Notch pathway regulates hippocampal neurogenesis by changing the Notch genes' DNA methylation status. Here, we present the evidence from DNA methylation profiling of Notch1, Hes1 and Ngn2 promoters during neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) of postnatal, adult and traumatic brains. We observed the expression of Notch1, Hes1 and Ngn2 in hippocampal DG with qPCR, Western blot and immunofluorescence staining. In addition, we investigated the methylation status of Notch pathway genes using the bisulfite sequencing PCR (BSP) method. The number of Notch1 or Hes1 (+) and BrdU (+) cells decreased in the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the DG in the hippocampus following TBI. Nevertheless, the number of Ngn2-positive cells in the DG of injured mice was markedly higher than in the DG of non-TBI mice. Accordingly, the DNA methylati...
Source: Brain Research Bulletin - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Brain Res Bull Source Type: research