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DNA Methylation of DLG4 and GJA-1 of Human Hippocampus and Prefrontal Cortex in Major Depression is Unchanged in Comparison to Healthy Individuals

Oliver Kaut, Amit Sharma, Ina Schmitt, René Hurlemann and Ullrich Wüllner

Epigenetic alterations provide a potential mechanism to account for the numerous gene-environment interactions that have been reported in association with neuropsychiatric phenotypes. In context to major depression disorder (MDD), where postmortem and neuroimaging studies provide insights into dysfunctional brain regions, involvement of genetic heterogeneity also revealed the complexity of this disorder. Despite intensive research during the past several decades and information from genome wide studies, pathophysiology of depressive disorders remained elusive. To evaluate the impact of epigenetic pressure on this disease, we took advantage of DNA isolated from different sections of human brain (prefrontal cortex and hippocampus) from clinically well-defined depressed patients and healthy individuals and performed pyrosequencing for DNA methylation analysis. Herein, we focused on two genes DLG4 (PSD-95) and GJA-1 (Connexin43) known to be associated with neuropsychiatric behavior. Comparing MDD with controls we found no differences of DNA methylation. Our results clearly demonstrate that DNA methylation levels on these particular genes are not associated with depression related phenotype.