Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2018, Vol. 13 ›› Issue (12): 2160-2163.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.241467

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Epigenetic marks are modulated by gender and time of the day in the hippocampi of adolescent rats: a preliminary study

Viviane Rostirola Elsner1, 2, 3, Laura Reck Cechinel1, Louisiana Carolina Ferreira de Meireles1, Karine Bertoldi1, Ionara Rodrigues Siqueira1   

  1. 1 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas: Fisiologia, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil
    2 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biociências e Reabilitação, Centro Universitário Metodista-IPA, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil
    3 Curso de Fisioterapia, Centro Universitário Metodista-IPA, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil
  • Received:2018-08-02 Online:2018-12-15 Published:2018-12-15
  • Contact: Ionara Rodrigues Siqueira, ionara@ufrgs.br.
  • Supported by:

    This work was partially supported by grant 476634/2013-0 from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico -CNPq /Brazil. CNPq fellowships (to IRS, VRE, and KB); Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – CAPES fellowships (to LCM); Programa de Bolsas de Iniciação Científica – UFRGS (to LRC).

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Abstract:

Although the involvement of gender in epigenetic machinery in peripheral tissues during the neonatal period has been suggested, the gender-related epigenetic profile of brain areas during the adolescent period is rarely exploited. Furthermore, the influence of time of day on hippocampal acetylation marks has been demonstrated in young adult and aged rats; however, there are no studies reporting epigenetic changes in the adolescent period. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of gender on hippocampal DNA methyltransferase 1 content and histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity of adolescent rats at different time points, specifically early morning and afternoon. Both epigenetic markers increased significantly in the hippocampi of female rats compared to the male group, an indicator of reduced transcriptional activity. In addition, HDAC activity during the early morning was higher compared to afternoon groups in both male and female rats, while DNA methyltransferase 1 content was not altered by the time of day. Our findings demonstrate that hippocampal DNA methylation and histone acetylation status can be influenced by gender during the adolescent period, while the time of the day impacts HDAC activity.

Key words: adolescent rats, DNA methyltransferase 1, histone deacetylase, hippocampus, time of the day, gender, epigenetic marks