2009 — 2014 |
Champagne, Frances A |
P01Activity Code Description: For the support of a broadly based, multidisciplinary, often long-term research program which has a specific major objective or a basic theme. A program project generally involves the organized efforts of relatively large groups, members of which are conducting research projects designed to elucidate the various aspects or components of this objective. Each research project is usually under the leadership of an established investigator. The grant can provide support for certain basic resources used by these groups in the program, including clinical components, the sharing of which facilitates the total research effort. A program project is directed toward a range of problems having a central research focus, in contrast to the usually narrower thrust of the traditional research project. Each project supported through this mechanism should contribute or be directly related to the common theme of the total research effort. These scientifically meritorious projects should demonstrate an essential element of unity and interdependence, i.e., a system of research activities and projects directed toward a well-defined research program goal. |
Project 3: Molecular/Disease Consequences of Prenatal Bpa, Pah Expos. Across Gene @ Columbia University Health Sciences
The objective of this proposal is to determine the mechanism by which prenatal exposure to environmentally relevant levels of the endocrine disrupting chemicals bisphenol A (BPA) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exert long-term effects on neurobiology, metabolism, immune function and behavior. We propose to examine prenatal exposure to BPA (oral) and PAH (inhaled) in Balb/c mice using a transgenerational breeding design in which the effects can be examined in Fl offspring and F2 grand-offspring. This proposal intends to determine the distinct effects of prenatal BPA and PAH exposure on DNA methylation and gene expression in several tissues (hippocampus, hypothalamus, brain cortex, adipocytes and blood) and the association of these molecular changes with neurobiological and physiological outcomes. Exposure will occur throughout gestation and postnatal mother-infant interactions will be assessed as a potential modulating influence on offspring development. Assessment of male and female Fl and F2 offspring will include weight monitoring, homecage social interactions (PND 30-40), anxiety-like behavior (PND 40), and cognitive functioning (PND 44-60). Adiposity will be quantified following behavioral testing and in the case of BPA exposure, additional exposure groups will be included to examine immune function. Exposure-induced changes in brain cytoarchitecture will be quantified in Fl and F2 offspring at PND 40. The molecular mechanisms driving these effects will be assessed in offspring tissue during fetal development (GD 19) and in adulthood (PND 60). The selection of molecular targets will be based on the results of analysis of tissue collected from the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) cohort with particular focus on genes involved in neurodevelopment and obesity. Methylation analysis will involve pyrosequencing of bisulphite treated DNA samples with mRNA analysis achieved through quantitative RT-PCR. Overall, these studies are designed to confirm and validate the biomarkers determined in the CCCEH human studies of BPA and PAH exposure and to determine the hypothesized link between epigenetic changes in blood with those determined in brain and adipose tissue to determine the possible mechanistic pathways through which long-term effects of exposure are mediated.
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0.958 |
2011 — 2015 |
Champagne, Frances A Monk, Catherine E [⬀] Tycko, Benjamin (co-PI) [⬀] |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
Prenatal Stress: the Epigenetic Basis of Maternal and Perinatal Effects @ Columbia University Health Sciences
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Nearly half of the U.S. population will meet criteria for a psychiatric disorder during their lives, and 1 in 17 has a seriously debilitating illness. Increasingly, these psychopathologies are conceptualized as the late-stage cul- mination of aberrant developmental processes shaped by a complex interplay of genes and experience, includ- ing those occurring in utero. Decades of studies with pregnant animals demonstrate that stress-elicited pertur- bations in maternal biology affect offspring development, leading to a profile characterized by heightened be- havioral and physiologic stress responsivity. Studies of distress in pregnant women, which range from exami- nations of life stress to psychiatric disorder, largely mirror these findings. Despite ample evidence linking ante- natal maternal functioning to offspring outcomes, the mechanistic pathways for this in utero influence on chil- dren's neurodevelopment remain unknown, particularly with human subjects. The burgeoning field of epigenet- ics - the detection of the molecular effects of environmental experience - has only minimally been applied to pregnant women, yet may provide a vital link in understanding the mechanisms involved in the fetal origins of psychiatric disease risk. The goal of this project is to use recent advances in studying epigenetic gene regulation to identify the biological mechanisms mediating the impact of maternal distress on perinatal development. Aim 1: Determine the influence of pregnant women's distress on epigenetic gene regula- tion relevant to perinatal development. Specifically, to establish whether (a) prenatal distress (daily life stress assessed 3x in pregnancy using 24-hour Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) via a Personal Digi- tal Assistant (PDA)) and mood symptoms elicited by clinician interviews) predict women's stress hormone lev- els (cortisol (from 3x, 12 salivary samples in 48-hours) and CRH (3x blood draws) and gene expression in her PBL (3x blood draws); (b) the timing and degree of women's altered stress hormone levels and PBL gene ex- pression predict placental gene expression; (c) these mood-dependent biological alterations are associated with the epigenetic mechanism of DNA methylation. Aim 2: Determine perinatal consequences of pregnant women's distress. Specifically whether, (a) women's distress-associated altered HPA-axis hormone levels, PBL and placental gene expression/epigenetic variation, predict fetal cord blood gene expression/epigenetic variation, as well as a neurobehavioral profile characterized by heightened reactivity to novelty (fetal and new- born autonomic and central nervous system regulation in response to stimuli). Aim 3: Establish causal influ- ence of epigenetic modification on offspring neurodevelopment. Specifically, using a rodent model in which brain effects of chronic maternal prenatal stress exposure can be directly assessed, we aim to determine (a) the influence of maternal condition on DNA methylation and gene expression in maternal PBLs, placenta, and in the fetal/infant brain and, (b), the relationship between epigenetic variations in these tissues and the de- velopment of the postnatal ANS and CNS as indexed by behavioral and stress-hormone responsivity.
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0.958 |