Title
Epigenetic Mechanisms of Alcohol Neuroadaptation: Insights from Drosophila
Date Issued
04 June 2018
Access level
open access
Resource Type
review
Author(s)
University of Puerto Rico–Rio Piedras
Publisher(s)
SAGE Publications Ltd
Abstract
Alcohol addiction is a serious condition perpetuated by enduring physiological and behavioral adaptations. An important component of these adaptations is the long-term rearrangement of neuronal gene expression in the brain of the addicted individual. Epigenetic histone modifications have recently surfaced as important modulators of the transcriptional adaptation to alcohol as these are thought to represent a form of transcriptional memory that is directly imprinted on the chromosome. Some histone modifications affect transcription by modulating the accessibility of the underlying DNA, whereas others have been proposed to serve as marks read by transcription factors as a “histone code” that helps to specify the expression level of a gene. Although the effects of some epigenetic modifications on the transcriptional activity of genes are well known, the mechanisms by which alcohol consumption produces this rearrangement and leads to lasting changes in behavior remain unresolved. Recent advances using the Drosophila model system have started to unravel the epigenetic modulators underlying functional alcohol neuroadaptations. In this review, we discuss the role of 3 different histone modification systems in Drosophila, which have a direct impact on key alcohol neuroadaptations associated with the addictive process. These systems involve the histone deacetylase Sirt1, the histone acetyltransferase CREB-binding protein (CBP), and a subset of the Drosophila JmjC-Domain histone demethylase family.
Volume
12
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencias médicas, Ciencias de la salud
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85060328723
Source
Journal of Experimental Neuroscience
Sponsor(s)
FuNdINg: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: The authors received funding from the “Fondo Institucional para la Investigación” (FIPI) from the University of Puerto Rico–Rio Piedras and from the National Science Foundation Award #1736026.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus