TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Association of childhood chronic physical aggression with a DNA methylation signature in adult human T cells
JO  - PLoS one
A1  - Provençal, Nadine
A1  - Suderman, Matthew J.
A1  - Guillemin, Claire
A1  - Vitaro, Frank
A1  - Côté, Sylvana M.
A1  - Hallett, Michael
A1  - Tremblay, Richard E.
A1  - Szyf, Moshe
SP  - e89839
EP  - e89839
VL  - 9
IS  - 4
N2  - BACKGROUND: Chronic physical aggression (CPA) is characterized by frequent use of physical aggression from early childhood to adolescence. Observed in approximately 5% of males, CPA is associated with early childhood adverse environments and long-term negative consequences. Alterations in DNA methylation, a covalent modification of DNA that regulates genome function, have been associated with early childhood adversity. AIMS: To test the hypothesis that a trajectory of chronic physical aggression during childhood is associated with a distinct DNA methylation profile during adulthood. <br><br>METHODS: We analyzed genome-wide promoter DNA methylation profiles of T cells from two groups of adult males assessed annually for frequency of physical aggression between 6 and 15 years of age: a group with CPA and a control group. Methylation profiles covering the promoter regions of 20 000 genes and 400 microRNAs were generated using MeDIP followed by hybridization to microarrays. <br><br>RESULTS: In total, 448 distinct gene promoters were differentially methylated in CPA. Functionally, many of these genes have previously been shown to play a role in aggression and were enriched in biological pathways affected by behavior. Their locations in the genome tended to form clusters spanning millions of bases in the genome. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence of clustered and genome-wide variation in promoter DNA methylation in young adults that associates with a history of chronic physical aggression from 6 to 15 years of age. However, longitudinal studies of methylation during early childhood will be necessary to determine if and how this methylation variation in T cells DNA plays a role in early development of chronic physical aggression.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1932-6203
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089839
ID  - ref1
ER  -