Transcriptional and Epigenetic Basis of Stress Effects on the Brain-View Presentation

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The video is a lecture given by a scientist discussing their research on transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms of depression. The speaker begins by giving an overview of transcriptional and epigenetic regulation, explaining how DNA is compacted within the cell nucleus and how chromatin architecture plays a role in gene expression. They then discuss how they have used genome-wide data sets to gain insight into the biology of depression and stress-related illnesses. The speaker highlights the sex differences observed in depression and the underlying mechanisms. They also discuss the distinction between stress susceptibility and stress resilience and provide examples of factors involved in both. The speaker explains how they have used RNA sequencing and chip sequencing techniques to identify genes affected by depression and stress in both human and animal models. They describe the use of chronic stress models in rodents, such as the chronic social defeat model and the chronic variable stress model. The speaker emphasizes the importance of studying sex differences in stress responses and how different transcriptional changes occur in male and female brains. They also discuss the impact of early life stress on stress susceptibility in adulthood and highlight the role of specific genes, such as OTX2, in mediating this effect. The speaker concludes by discussing the potential for using their research findings to develop new treatments for depression. They mention the potential therapeutic role of KCNQ channel potentiators and highlight the success of a clinical study using a potassium channel potentiator called azogabine in treating depression. The speaker acknowledges the limitations of animal models and the need for further research to better understand the mechanisms underlying depression.

Keywords

transcriptional regulation

epigenetic mechanisms

depression research

gene expression

sex differences in depression

stress susceptibility

RNA sequencing

chronic stress models