Interaction of genetic predisposition and epigenetic factors in the development of anxiety

It is becoming increasingly clear by current research that the continuum of physiological anxiety up to psychopathology is not merely dependent on genes, but is orchestrated by the interplay of genetic predisposition, gene x environment and epigenetic interactions. To consider this interplay, we here took advantage of the rigid genetic predisposition of a selectively bred mouse model exhibiting high anxiety-related behavior (HAB) and tested whether and how enriched environment, a manipulation of housing conditions, is capable of rescuing the genetically driven high anxiety phenotype via gene x environment and/or epigenetic interactions. Indeed, enriched environment exerts a significant anxiolytic effect on HABs of both sexes indicating for the first time that even a rigid genetic predisposition of high anxiety can be rescued by beneficial environmental stimuli. Thereby, a reduced neophobia and a bigger behavioral repertoire of HABs (e.g. social interactions) have been observed with a stronger anxiolysis in males than in females. The behavioral shift is accompanied by an attenuated release of corticosterone after application of a mild stressor. A hyperreactive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and amygdala constitute the most common symptoms of anxiety disorders, and decreased corticosterone release seems to entail a reduced release of noradrenaline from locus caeruleus (LC) to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), thereby increasing the top-down control of mPFC on amygdala. This would entail less activation of amygdala and thus HPA axis, a consequence we indeed can observe as decreased neuronal activity flow through the amygdala of enriched housed (EE) compared to standard housed (SE) HABs. We suggest that corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 (Crhr1) is critically involved in this phenomenon since (i) HABs compared to low anxiety-related behavior (LAB) mice exhibit higher Crhr1 mRNA in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), (ii) this overexpression can be significantly reduced when HABs are housed in enriched environment and (iii) a bilateral application of a CRHR1 antagonist in the BLA of SE HABs induced a significant anxiolytic effect. Subsequent pyrosequencing identified that enriched environment increased methylation at a CpG site in the promoter of Crhr1, which is located next to a transcription factor binding site (TFB) of the epigenetic transcription factor Yin Yang 1 (YY1), whose mRNA levels are indeed decreased in EE HABs. In silico analysis identified Nr4a1 and D3Ertd300e as critical co-transcription factors, whereas Nr4a1 seems to be regulated by the quantity of available glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and D3Ertd300e positively regulates YY1. Thus, we hypothesize that reduced corticosterone release decreases the availability and thus binding of corticosterone to GR in the BLA. This, in turn decreases the binding affinity of Nr4a1 to D3Ertd300e, which then cannot positively regulate YY1 to decrease or even prevent methylation at the identified CpG site of Crhr1. This would finally result in a differentially methylated region (DMR) with higher methylation levels in EE HABs, which underlies the observed gene expression differences. The identified DMR might therefore be used as a biomarker for high or pathological anxiety. This hypothesized mechanism highlights the possibility that even a rigid genetic predisposition modeling pathological anxiety might be rescued by an epigenetic process that seems to be triggered by beneficial environmental stimuli, thereby raising the exciting possibility for new treatment strategies, which can be utilized complementary to already existing ones

Epigenetic regulation of corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1: implication for anxiety-related disorders

Recent literature corroborates that both, genes and environment, are crucial determinants contributing to psychiatric disorders. The selectively bred mouse models of enhanced fear and anxiety-related behavior provide a unique opportunity to study the interaction of a rigid genetic predisposition with environmental factors and are used to identify targets contributing to pathological anxiety. Here, we studied gene × environment (G×E) interactions using a mouse model of high (HAB) vs. low (LAB) anxiety-related behavior. By applying enriched environment (EE) and chronic mild stress (CMS), we succeeded in shifting the phenotypes of HAB and LAB mice towards “normal” anxiety. In this bidirectional shift, Crhr1 was identified to be a key player. Increased methylation of CpG1 within the Crhr1 promoter region was shown to be critically involved in regulating the binding affinity of the transcription factor Ying-Yang 1 (YY1). The interplay between YY1 expression and DNA methylation might be the mechanism underlying the differences in Crhr1 expression after EE and CMS. Other epigenetic mechanisms contributing to Crhr1 expression are discussed here

In silico target fishing for rationalized ligand discovery exemplified on constituents of Ruta graveolens

The identification of targets whose interaction is likely to result in the successful treatment of a disease is of growing interest for natural product scientists. In the current study we performed an exemplary application of a virtual parallel screening approach to identify potential targets for 16 secondary metabolites isolated and identified from the aerial parts of the medicinal plant RUTA GRAVEOLENS L. Low energy conformers of the isolated constituents were simultaneously screened against a set of 2208 pharmacophore models generated in-house for the IN SILICO prediction of putative biological targets, i. e., target fishing. Based on the predicted ligand-target interactions, we focused on three biological targets, namely acetylcholinesterase (AChE), the human rhinovirus (HRV) coat protein and the cannabinoid receptor type-2 (CB (2)). For a critical evaluation of the applied parallel screening approach, virtual hits and non-hits were assayed on the respective targets. For AChE the highest scoring virtual hit, arborinine, showed the best inhibitory IN VITRO activity on AChE (IC (50) 34.7 muM). Determination of the anti-HRV-2 effect revealed 6,7,8-trimethoxycoumarin and arborinine to be the most active antiviral constituents with IC (50) values of 11.98 muM and 3.19 muM, respectively. Of these, arborinine was predicted virtually. Of all the molecules subjected to parallel screening, one virtual CB (2) ligand was obtained, i. e., rutamarin. Interestingly, in experimental studies only this compound showed a selective activity to the CB (2) receptor ( Ki of 7.4 muM) by using a radioligand displacement assay. The applied parallel screening paradigm with constituents of R. GRAVEOLENS on three different proteins has shown promise as an IN SILICO tool for rational target fishing and pharmacological profiling of extracts and single chemical entities in natural product research

Epidermis-Type Lipoxygenase 3 Regulates Adipocyte Differentiation and Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ Activity▿ †

The nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) is essential for adipogenesis. Although several fatty acids and their derivatives are known to bind and activate PPARγ, the nature of the endogenous ligand(s) promoting the early stages of adipocyte differentiation has remained enigmatic. Previously, we showed that lipoxygenase (LOX) activity is involved in activation of PPARγ during the early stages of adipocyte differentiation. Of the seven known murine LOXs, only the unconventional LOX epidermis-type lipoxygenase 3 (eLOX3) is expressed in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Here, we show that forced expression of eLOX3 or addition of eLOX3 products stimulated adipogenesis under conditions that normally require an exogenous PPARγ ligand for differentiation. Hepoxilins, a group of oxidized arachidonic acid derivatives produced by eLOX3, bound to and activated PPARγ. Production of hepoxilins was increased transiently during the initial stages of adipogenesis. Furthermore, small interfering RNA-mediated or retroviral short hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown of eLOX3 expression abolished differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Finally, we demonstrate that xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) and eLOX3 synergistically enhanced PPARγ-mediated transactivation. Collectively, our results indicate that hepoxilins produced by the concerted action of XOR and eLOX3 may function as PPARγ activators capable of promoting the early PPARγ-dependent steps in the conversion of preadipocytes into adipocytes

Identification of chemically diverse, novel inhibitors of 17?-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 3 and 5 by pharmacophore-based virtual screening

17?-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 3 and 5 (17?-HSD3 and 17?-HSD5) catalyze testosterone biosynthesis and thereby constitute therapeutic targets for androgen-related diseases or endocrine-disrupting chemicals. As a fast and efficient tool to identify potential ligands for 17?HSD3/5, ligand- and structure-based pharmacophore models for both enzymes were developed. The models were evaluated first by in silico screening of commercial compound databases and further experimentally validated by enzymatic efficacy tests of selected virtual hits. Among the 35 tested compounds, 11 novel inhibitors with distinct chemical scaffolds, e.g. sulfonamides and triazoles, and with different selectivity properties were discovered. Thereby, we provide several potential starting points for further 17?-HSD3 and 17?-HSD5 inhibitor development. Article from the Special issue on Targeted Inhibitors