APOE DNA methylation is altered in Lewy body dementia

Jessica Tulloch, Lesley Leong, Sunny Chen, C. Dirk Keene, Steven P. Millard, Andrew Shutes-David, Oscar L. Lopez, Julia Kofler, Jeffrey A. Kaye, Randy Woltjer, Peter T. Nelson, Janna H. Neltner, Gregory A. Jicha, Douglas Galasko, Eliezer Masliah, James B. Leverenz, Chang En Yu, Debby Tsuang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Introduction: Inheritance of the ε4 allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE) increases a person's risk of developing both Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Lewy body dementia (LBD), yet the underlying mechanisms behind this risk are incompletely understood. The recent identification of reduced APOE DNA methylation in AD postmortem brains prompted this study to investigate APOE methylation in LBD. Methods: Genomic DNA from postmortem brain tissues (frontal lobe and cerebellum) of neuropathological pure (np) controls and npAD, LBD + AD, and npLBD subjects were bisulfite pyrosequenced. DNA methylation levels of two APOE subregions were then compared for these groups. Results: APOE DNA methylation was significantly reduced in npLBD compared with np controls, and methylation levels were lowest in the LBD + AD group. Discussion: Given that npLBD and npAD postmortem brains shared a similar reduction in APOE methylation, it is possible that an aberrant epigenetic change in APOE is linked to risk for both diseases.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)889-894
Number of pages6
JournalAlzheimer's and Dementia
Volume14
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018

Funding

Funding Sources: This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development Biomedical Laboratory Research Program and by a grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (1R03NS103950). The contents do not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government. Brain tissues were obtained from donors to the following research centers: University of Washington (UW) Neuropathology Core, which is supported by the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (AG05136), and the NIA-supported Alzheimer's Disease Centers at the University of Pittsburgh (AG005133), University of California at San Diego (AG005131), University of Kentucky (AG028383), and Oregon Health and Science University (AG008017). Funding Sources: This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development Biomedical Laboratory Research Program and by a grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (1R03NS103950). The contents do not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government. Brain tissues were obtained from donors to the following research centers: University of Washington (UW) Neuropathology Core, which is supported by the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center ( AG05136 ), and the NIA-supported Alzheimer's Disease Centers at the University of Pittsburgh ( AG005133 ), University of California at San Diego ( AG005131 ), University of Kentucky ( AG028383 ), and Oregon Health and Science University ( AG008017 ).

FundersFunder number
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development Biomedical Laboratory Research Program
National Institute on AgingP50AG005133
National Institute on Aging
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council1R03NS103950
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council
Alzheimer's Disease Research Foundation
California Sea Grant, University of California, San DiegoAG005131
California Sea Grant, University of California, San Diego
Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Emory UniversityAG05136
Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Emory University
Oregon Health and Science UniversityAG008017
Oregon Health and Science University
University of KentuckyAG028383
University of Kentucky
The George Washington University
University of California San Diego Health
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Children's Hospital of PittsburghAG005133
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

    Keywords

    • Alzheimer's disease (AD)
    • Apolipoprotein E (APOE)
    • Cerebellum
    • DNA methylation
    • Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)
    • Differential methylation
    • Differentially methylated region (DMR)
    • Epigenetics
    • Frontal lobe
    • Human
    • Lewy body dementia (LBD)
    • Postmortem brain
    • Pyrosequencing

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Epidemiology
    • Health Policy
    • Developmental Neuroscience
    • Clinical Neurology
    • Geriatrics and Gerontology
    • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
    • Psychiatry and Mental health

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