Diurnal and seasonal molecular rhythms in human neocortex and their relation to Alzheimer's disease.

Nat Commun
Authors
Abstract

Circadian and seasonal rhythms are seen in many species, modulate several aspects of human physiology, including brain functions such as mood and cognition, and influence many neurological and psychiatric illnesses. However, there are few data regarding the genome-scale molecular correlates underlying these rhythms, especially in the human brain. Here, we report widespread, site-specific and interrelated diurnal and seasonal rhythms of gene expression in the human brain, and show their relationship with parallel rhythms of epigenetic modification including histone acetylation, and DNA methylation. We also identify transcription factor-binding sites that may drive these effects. Further, we demonstrate that Alzheimer's disease pathology disrupts these rhythms. These data suggest that interrelated diurnal and seasonal epigenetic and transcriptional rhythms may be an important feature of human brain biology, and perhaps human biology more broadly, and that changes in such rhythms may be consequences of, or contributors to, diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

Year of Publication
2017
Journal
Nat Commun
Volume
8
Pages
14931
Date Published
2017 Apr 03
ISSN
2041-1723
DOI
10.1038/ncomms14931
PubMed ID
28368004
PubMed Central ID
PMC5382268
Links
Grant list
RF1 AG036042 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
RF1 AG015819 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
R01 AG052488 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
R01 AG017917 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
P30 AG010161 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States