Project description:Circadian rhythm disturbances have long been associated with the development of psychiatric disorders, including mood and substance use disorders. Adolescence is a particularly vulnerable time for the onset of psychiatric disorders and for circadian rhythm and sleep disruptions. Preclinical studies have found that circadian rhythm disruption (CRD) impacts the brain and behavior, but this research is largely focused on adult disruptions. Here, we sought to determine the long-term behavioral and neurobiological effects of CRD during early adolescence by exposing mice to 12 h shifts in the light/dark cycle. We hypothesized that adolescent CRD would have a greater effect on psychiatric-related behaviors, relative to adult disruption. To identify possible mechanisms, we also measured gene expression in brain regions relevant to circadian rhythms, mood and reward. We found that disruption during early adolescence, but not adulthood, persistently increased exploratory drive (risk-taking behavior) and cocaine preference when tested later in life. Interestingly, we found sex differences when intravenous cocaine self-administration was tested. While female mice with a history of adolescent CRD had a greater propensity to self-administer cocaine, as well as increased motivation and cue-induced reinstatement, male adolescent CRD mice had reduced motivation and extinction responding. Overall, adolescent CRD in mice caused persistent increases in risky behavior, cocaine reward and cocaine self-administration, which suggests that CRD during adolescence may predispose individuals towards substance use disorders. Importantly, we found that many transcripts were affected by adolescent CRD and these were largely distinct across sex and brain region. Future research is required to elucidate how adolescent CRD affects behaviors relevant to mood- and substance use-related disorders across the 24-hour day, as well as to identify intervention strategies to alleviate disruption during adolescence and novel therapeutic approaches once symptoms have begun.
Project description:Methylation profiling in colorectal cancer : adjacent normal tissue vs colon tumor tissue indirect comparison experiment : CRD(common reference DNA) vs tumor-adjacent normal, CRD vs Colon tumor
Project description:Frequent shift work causes disruption of the circadian rhythm and might on the long-term result in increased health risk. Current biomarkers evaluating the presence of circadian rhythm disturbance (CRD) require 24-hr (around the clock) measurements, which is not practical for use in large-scale (human) studies. The aim of the present study was to identify universal biomarkers for CRD independent of time of day using a transcriptomics approach. Female FVB mice were exposed to six shifts in a clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise (CCW) CRD protocol and sacrificed at baseline and after 1 shift, 6 shifts, 5 days recovery and 14 days recovery, respectively. At six time-points during the day, livers were collected for mRNA microarray analysis. Bioinformatics analysis identified a set of universal markers for CRD. These biomarkers might be useful to measure CRD and can be used later on for monitoring the effectiveness of intervention strategies aiming to prevent or minimize chronic adverse health effects.
Project description:To characterize any differences in the effects of Circadian rhythm disorders (CRD) on mice of various ages, we selected young (8-week-old), and aged (18-month-old) mice and created a model of CRD by modifying the light/dark cycle under which they were housed.
Project description:CDCA7, encoding a protein with a C-terminal cysteine-rich domain (CRD), is mutated in immunodeficiency, centromeric instability, and facial anomalies (ICF) syndrome, a disease related to hypomethylation of peri/centromeric satellite DNA. Previous work suggests that the CDCA7 CRD is implicated in DNA binding, which plays a key role in directing the DNA methylation mechinery to peri/centromeric regions. To identify potential genomic targets of CDCA7, we performed ChIP-Seq using CDCA7 knockout (KO) mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) stably expressing HA-tagged wild-type (WT) or ICF mutant (R285H) mCDCA7.
Project description:Subsequently, using a combination of BSA-seq, transcriptomic sequencing (RNA-seq), and proteomic sequencing approaches, we identified the candidate gene Nitab4.5_0008674g0010 that encodes dihydroneopterin aldolase as a factor associated with tobacco leaf yellowing.
Project description:ATAC-seq analysis of wild type C. albicans and a HIR1 gene deletion mutant during nutrient rich growth (YPD) and upon the shift to nitrogen starvation in yeast carbon base medium supplemented with BSA (YCB-BSA medium).