TY - JOUR
T1 - Epigenetic studies of genomic retroelements in major psychosis
AU - Kan, Pei Xiang
AU - Popendikyte, Violeta
AU - Kaminsky, Zachary A.
AU - Yolken, Robert H.
AU - Petronis, Arturas
N1 - Funding Information:
Post-mortem brains were donated by The Stanley Medical Research Institute's Brain Collection courtesy of Drs. Michael B. Knable, E. Fuller Torrey, Maree J. Webster, and Robert H. Yolken. Brain samples of HD patients were received from the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center, which is supported in part by PHS grant number MH/NS 31862. This work was supported by grants from the Stanley Foundation, the Canadian Psychiatric Research Foundation, the Ontario Mental Health Foundation, and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression to AP. P.-X.K. is a postdoctoral fellow of the Ontario Mental Health Foundation.
PY - 2004/3/1
Y1 - 2004/3/1
N2 - This work is dedicated to the exploration of the role of epigenetic (epiG) factors in major psychosis. One of the key functions of epigenetic modification of the genome of eukaryotic cells is to suppress transcriptional activity of the retroelements. Examples of retroelements are endogenous retroviral sequences (ERVs), Alu's, and LINEs, among others, which as a rule are hypermethylated. There is evidence from schizophrenia (SCH) and other human complex diseases that some of the genomic retroelements become transcribed in the affected tissues. Our goal was to screen DNA samples from post-mortem brain tissues of individuals who were affected with major psychiatric illness for retroelements that were located in the hypomethylated fraction of the genomic DNA. Over 100 Alu sequences were cloned, sequenced, and mapped to the human genome. A substantial portion of the cloned Alu's are located close to or within the genes that may be interesting targets for further genetic, transcription, and epigenetic studies.
AB - This work is dedicated to the exploration of the role of epigenetic (epiG) factors in major psychosis. One of the key functions of epigenetic modification of the genome of eukaryotic cells is to suppress transcriptional activity of the retroelements. Examples of retroelements are endogenous retroviral sequences (ERVs), Alu's, and LINEs, among others, which as a rule are hypermethylated. There is evidence from schizophrenia (SCH) and other human complex diseases that some of the genomic retroelements become transcribed in the affected tissues. Our goal was to screen DNA samples from post-mortem brain tissues of individuals who were affected with major psychiatric illness for retroelements that were located in the hypomethylated fraction of the genomic DNA. Over 100 Alu sequences were cloned, sequenced, and mapped to the human genome. A substantial portion of the cloned Alu's are located close to or within the genes that may be interesting targets for further genetic, transcription, and epigenetic studies.
KW - Alu sequences
KW - Bipolar disorder
KW - DNA methylation
KW - Endogenous retroviruses
KW - Epigenetics
KW - Post-mortem brain
KW - Retroelements
KW - Schizophrenia
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U2 - 10.1016/j.schres.2003.09.004
DO - 10.1016/j.schres.2003.09.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 14741329
AN - SCOPUS:1642564664
SN - 0920-9964
VL - 67
SP - 95
EP - 106
JO - Schizophrenia Research
JF - Schizophrenia Research
IS - 1
ER -