Brain development controlled by epigenetic factor

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Brain development controlled by epigenetic factor

Research into hippocampus has implications for learning and memory

McGill researchers have discovered, for the first time, the importance of a key epigenetic regulator in the development of the hippocampus, a part of the brain associated with learning, memory and neural stem cells. Epigenetic regulators change the way specific genes function without altering their DNA sequence. By working with mutant mice as models, the research team, led by Prof. Xiang-Jiao Yang, of McGill鈥檚 Goodman Cancer Center & Department of Medicine, 香蕉视频 Health Center, was able to link the importance of a specific epigenetic regulator known as BRPF1 to the healthy development of a region in the hippocampus called the dentate gyrus.

Published: 10 March 2015

听This discovery sheds light on how epigenetic control and neural stem cells may be听involved in regulating human brain development, and has implications for intellectual disability in human patients, as well as for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and other types of dementia. This finding also suggests new directions for further research on learning and memory during human development and aging since the hippocampus is so important for both mental processes.

鈥淭his research supports how important epigenetic regulation is to brain development and health during one鈥檚 lifetime, but this is something that we are just starting to understand,鈥� says Yang. 鈥淭he next step for us is to try and understand better how different epigenetic regulators in the brain interact with one another to integrate information from life experience and from the environment.鈥�

The research was carried out by Linya You, a PhD student in the laboratory, in collaboration with Edwin Wang鈥檚 group at National Research Council of Canada and Morag Park鈥檚 group at Goodman Cancer Center of 香蕉视频. The research was supported by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Canadian Cancer Society.

To read the full papers 鈥楾he lysine acetyltransferase activator Brpf1 governs dentate gyrus development through neural stem cells and progenitors鈥� in PLOS Genetics: ; and 鈥楧eficiency of the chromatin regulator Brpf1 causes abnormal brain development鈥� in Journal Biological Chemistry:

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