QBI Neuroscience Seminar:The role of epigenetic-regulated gene expression in cognitive function and neurodegenerative disorders
Event Details
- Date:
- Monday, 01 December 2014
- Time:
- 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
- Room:
- Auditorium, QBI, Building 79, St.Lucia Campus
- UQ Location:
- Queensland Brain Institute (St Lucia)
- URL:
- www.qbi.uq.edu.au/news-and-events
- Event category(s):
Event Contact
- Name:
- Ms Charmaine Paiva
- Phone:
- 66402
- Email:
- m.paiva@uq.edu.au
- Org. Unit:
- Queensland Brain Institute
Event Description
- Full Description:
- Professor Li-Huei Tsai
Director, The Picower Center for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Seminar title:
The role of epigenetic-regulated gene expression in cognitive function and neurodegenerative disorders
Abstract:
Long lasting memories require specific gene expression programs that are, in part, regulated by epigenetic mechanisms. Profound alterations in gene expression in the brain have been observed in human memory disorders, including cognitive aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), that are likely to be mediated by epigenetic mechanisms. Histone acetylation is a prominent epigenetic modification that has been unequivocally associated with increasing the rate of gene transcription. Histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) is an important chromatin enzyme that negatively regulates the expression of genes essential for synaptic plasticity and memory formation. We found that levels of HDAC2 are markedly upregulated in the brains of several mouse models of AD as well as in the human postmortem AD brain. Increases in HDAC2, in turn, lead to a blockade of the expression of genes necessary for synaptic plasticity and, eventually, constrain cognitive abilities. Reversing the buildup of HDAC2 unlocks the epigenetic blockade of gene expression and abolishes neurodegeneration-associated memory impairments in mouse models of AD. We recently performed epigenomic analysis in the hippocampus of a well-established mouse AD model. We found reciprocal alterations in the expression patterns of neuronal genes and immune response genes during neurodegeneration. An analysis of the promoter and enhancer activity of the immune response genes in this AD mouse model provides further insight into the etiology of human neurodegenerative disease.
Directions to UQ
- Google Map:
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- Directions:
- St Lucia Campus | Gatton campus.
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