No abstract

Developmental exposure to lead (Pb) has adverse effects on cognitive functioning and behavior that can persist into adulthood. Exposures that occur during fetal or early life periods may produce changes in brain related to physiological re-programming from an epigenetic influence such as altered DNA methylation status. Since DNA methylation is regulated by DNA methyltransferases and methyl cytosine binding proteins, this study assessed the extent to which developmental Pb exposure might affect expression of these proteins in the hippocampus. Long Evans dams were fed Pb-containing food with or without added Pb acetate (0, 150, 375, 750 ppm) prior to breeding and stayed on the same diet through weaning (perinatal exposure group). Other animals were exposed to the same doses of Pb but exposure started on postnatal day 1 and continued through weaning (early postnatal exposure group). All animals were euthanized on day 55 and hippocampi were removed. Western analyses showed significant effects on DNMT1, DNMT3a, and MeCP2 expression, with effects often seen at the lowest level of exposure and primarily modified by sex and developmental window of Pb exposure. These data suggest potential epigenetic effects of developmental Pb exposure on DNA methylation mediated at least in part through dysregulation of methyltransferases.

Although the pathophysiological processes involved in dopamine (DA) neuron degeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD) are not completely known, apoptotic cell death has been suggested to be involved and can be modeled in DAergic cell lines using the mitochondrial toxin 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP + ). Recently, it has been suggested that histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) may reduce apoptotic cell death in various model systems. However, their utility in interfering with DA cell death remains unclear. The HDACIs sodium butyrate (NaB), valproate (VPA) and suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) were tested for their ability to prevent MPP + -mediated cytotoxicity in human derived SK-N-SH and rat derived MES 23.5 cells. All three HDACIs at least partially prevented MPP + -mediated apoptotic cell death. The protective effects of these HDACIs coincided with significant increases in histone acetylation. These results suggest that HDACIs may be potentially neuroprotective against DA cell death and should be explored further in animal models of PD.

The use of animal models (including the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6- tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) mouse model) to mimic dopaminergic (DAergic) cell loss and striatal DA depletion, as seen in Parkinson’s disease (PD), has implicated a multitude of factors that might be associated with DAergic cell death in PD including excitotoxicity, inflammation, and oxidative stress. All of these factors have been shown to be reduced by administration of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors (HDACis) resulting in some degree of neuroprotection in various models of neurodegenerative disease including in Huntington’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. However, there is limited information of effects of HDACis in PD models. We have previously shown HDACis to be partially protective against 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) mediated cell loss in vitro. The present study was conducted to extend these findings to an in vivo PD model. The HDACi valproic acid (VPA) was co-administered with MPTP for 5 days to male FVBn mice and continued for an additional 2 weeks, throughout the period of active neurodegeneration associated with MPTP-mediated DAergic cell loss. VPA was able to partially prevent striatal dopamine depletion and almost completely protect against substantia nigra DAergic cell loss. These results suggest that VPA may be a potential disease modifying therapy for PD.

Environmental lead (Pb) exposure and prenatal stress (PS) are co-occurring risk factors for impaired cognition and other disorders/diseases in adulthood and target common biological substrates in the brain. Sex-dependent differences characterize the neurochemical and behavioral responses of the brain to Pb and PS and sexually dimorphic histone modifications have been reported to occur in at-risk brain regions (cortex and hippocampus) during development. The present study sought to examine levels and developmental timing of sexually dimorphic histone modifications (i.e., H3K9/14Ac and H3K9Me3) and the extent to which they may be altered by Pb ± PS. Female C57/Bl6 mice were randomly assigned to receive distilled deionized drinking water containing 0 or 100 ppm Pb acetate for 2 months prior to breeding and throughout lactation. Half of the dams in each group were exposed to restraint stress (PS, three restraint sessions in plastic cylindrical devices 3×/day at for 30 min/day (1000, 1300, and 1600h)) from gestational day 11–19 or no stress (NS). At delivery (PND0) and postnatal day 6 (PND6), pups were euthanized and frontal cortex and hippocampus were removed, homogenized, and assayed for levels of H3K9/14Ac and H3K9Me3. Sex-dependent differences in both levels of histone modifications as well as the developmental trajectory of changes in these levels were observed in both structures and these parameters were differentially affected by Pb ± PS in a sex and brain-region-dependent manner. Disruptions of these epigenetic processes by developmental Pb ± PS may underlie some of the sex-dependent neurobehavioral differences previously observed in these animals.