TY - JOUR T1 - The Transcription Factor Nerve Growth Factor-Inducible Protein A Mediates Epigenetic Programming: Altering Epigenetic Marks by Immediate-Early Genes JF - The Journal of Neuroscience JO - J. Neurosci. SP - 1756 LP - 1768 DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4164-06.2007 VL - 27 IS - 7 AU - Ian C. G. Weaver AU - Ana C. D'Alessio AU - Shelley E. Brown AU - Ian C. Hellstrom AU - Sergiy Dymov AU - Shakti Sharma AU - Moshe Szyf AU - Michael J. Meaney Y1 - 2007/02/14 UR - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/27/7/1756.abstract N2 - Maternal care alters epigenetic programming of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene expression in the hippocampus, and increased postnatal maternal licking/grooming (LG) behavior enhances nerve growth factor-inducible protein A (NGFI-A) transcription factor binding to the exon 17 GR promoter within the hippocampus of the offspring. We tested the hypothesis that NGFI-A binding to the exon 17 GR promoter sequence marks this sequence for histone acetylation and DNA demethylation and that such epigenetic alterations subsequently influence NGFI-A binding and GR transcription. We report that (1) NGFI-A binding to its consensus sequence is inhibited by DNA methylation, (2) NGFI-A induces the activity of exon 17 GR promoter in a transient reporter assay, (3) DNA methylation inhibits exon 17 GR promoter activity, and (4) whereas NGFI-A interaction with the methylated exon 17 GR promoter is reduced, NGFI-A overexpression induces histone acetylation, DNA demethylation, and activation of the exon 17 GR promoter in transient transfection assays. Site-directed mutagenesis assays demonstrate that NGFI-A binding to the exon 17 GR promoter is required for such epigenetic reprogramming. In vivo, enhanced maternal LG is associated with increased NGFI-A binding to the exon 17 GR promoter in the hippocampus of pups, and NGFI-A-bound exon 17 GR promoter is unmethylated compared with unbound exon 17 GR promoter. Knockdown experiments of NGFI-A in hippocampal primary cell culture show that NGFI-A is required for serotonin-induced DNA demethylation and increased exon 17 GR promoter expression. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that NGFI-A participates in epigenetic programming of GR expression. ER -