Abstract

Age- and sex-related alterations in gene transcription have been demonstrated, however the underlying mechanisms are unresolved. Neuroepigenetic pathways regulate gene transcription in the brain. Here, we measure in vivo expression of the epigenetic enzymes, histone deacetylases (HDACs), across healthy human aging and between sexes using [11C]Martinostat positron emission tomography (PET) neuroimaging (n = 41). Relative HDAC expression increases with age in cerebral white matter, and correlates with age-associated disruptions in white matter microstructure. A post mortem study confirmed that HDAC1 and HDAC2 paralogs are elevated in white matter tissue from elderly donors. There are also sex-specific in vivo HDAC expression differences in brain regions associated with emotion and memory, including the amygdala and hippocampus. Hippocampus and white matter HDAC expression negatively correlates with emotion regulation skills (n = 23). Age and sex are associated with HDAC expression in vivo, which could drive age- and sex-related transcriptional changes and impact human behavior.

Details

Title
Neuroepigenetic signatures of age and sex in the living human brain
Author
Gilbert, Tonya M 1 ; Zürcher, Nicole R 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Catanese, Mary C 1 ; Tseng, Chieh-En J 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Di Biase, Maria A 2 ; Lyall, Amanda E 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hightower, Baileigh G 1 ; Parmar, Anjali J 1 ; Bhanot, Anisha 1 ; Wu, Christine J 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hibert, Matthew L 1 ; Kim, Minhae 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Umar Mahmood 1 ; Stufflebeam, Steven M 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Schroeder, Frederick A 1 ; Wang, Changning 1 ; Roffman, Joshua L 4 ; Holt, Daphne J 4 ; Greve, Douglas N 1 ; Pasternak, Ofer 2 ; Kubicki, Marek 3 ; Hsiao-Ying Wey 1 ; Hooker, Jacob M 1 

1  Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA 
2  Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA 
3  Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA 
4  Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA 
Pages
1-9
Publication year
2019
Publication date
Jul 2019
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11031-0
ProQuest document ID
2251708345
Copyright
© 2019. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.