Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Beyond genotype: serotonin transporter epigenetic modification predicts human brain function

Nature Neuroscience volume 17, pages 1153–1155 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

We examined epigenetic regulation in regards to behaviorally and clinically relevant human brain function. Specifically, we found that increased promoter methylation of the serotonin transporter gene predicted increased threat-related amygdala reactivity and decreased mRNA expression in postmortem amygdala tissue. These patterns were independent of functional genetic variation in the same region. Furthermore, the association with amygdala reactivity was replicated in a second cohort and was robust to both sampling methods and age.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Effects of SLC6A4 promoter methylation on amygdala reactivity.
Figure 2: Effects of SLC6A4 promoter methylation on gene expression.

Similar content being viewed by others

Accession codes

Accessions

Ensembl

References

  1. Hariri, A.R. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 32, 225–247 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Meaney, M.J. & Szyf, M. Dialogues Clin. Neurosci. 7, 103–123 (2005).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Caspi, A., Hariri, A.R., Holmes, A., Uher, R. & Moffitt, T.E. Am. J. Psychiatry 167, 509–527 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Brenet, F. et al. PLoS ONE 6, e14524 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Fakra, E. et al. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 66, 33–40 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Abercrombie, H.C. et al. Neuroreport 9, 3301–3307 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Mehta, D. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 110, 16044–16049 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Chaouloff, F. J. Psychopharmacol. 14, 139–151 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hariri, A.R. et al. Science 297, 400–403 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Fisher, P.M. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 9, 1362–1363 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Baas, D., Aleman, A. & Kahn, R.S. Brain Res. Brain Res. Rev. 45, 96–103 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Young, E.J. & Williams, C.L. Behav. Neurosci. 124, 633–644 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Rhodes, R.A. et al. J. Neurosci. 27, 9233–9237 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Bigos, K.L. et al. Neuropsychopharmacology 33, 3221–3225 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Di Simplicio, M., Norbury, R., Reinecke, A. & Harmer, C.J. Psychol. Med. 44, 241–252 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Tylee, D.S., Kawaguchi, D.M. & Glatt, S.J. Am. J. Med. B Neuropsychiatr. Genet. 162B, 595–603 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Wang, D. et al. PLoS ONE 7, e39501 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Sheehan, D.V. et al. J. Clin. Psychiatry 59 (suppl. 20), 22–33, quiz 34–57 (1998).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. First, M.B., Spitzer, R.L., Gibbon, M. & Williams, J.B.M. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, Research Version, Non-patient Edition (New York State Psychiatric Institute, Biometrics Research Department, New York, 1996).

  20. Sibille, E. et al. Am. J. Psychiatry 166, 1011–1024 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Glantz, L.A. & Lewis, D.A. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 54, 943–952 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Carré, J.M., Hyde, L.W., Neumann, C.S., Viding, E. & Hariri, A.R. Soc. Neurosci. 8, 122–135 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Viviani, R. Neuroimage 50, 184–189 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Nikolova, Y.S. & Hariri, A.R. Biol. Mood Anxiety Disord. 2, 19 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Nikolova, Y.S., Ferrell, R.E., Manuck, S.B. & Hariri, A.R. Neuropsychopharmacology 36, 1940–1947 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Carré, J.M., Fisher, P.M., Manuck, S.B. & Hariri, A.R. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 7, 213–221 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Tripp, A. et al. Am. J. Psychiatry 169, 1194–1202 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Gelernter, J., Kranzler, H. & Cubells, J.F. Hum. Genet. 101, 243–246 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Nikolova, Y.S., Bogdan, R., Brigidi, B.D. & Hariri, A.R. Biol. Psychiatry 72, 157–163 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Bernstein, D.P. et al. Child Abuse Negl. 27, 169–190 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank B. Brigidi, K. Faig, A. Gorka, S. Jacobson, A. Knodt, B. Williams and K. Sugden for their assistance in DNS data collection and analysis, and J. Hanson for his assistance in figure preparation. The Duke Neurogenetics Study is supported by Duke University and National Institute on Drug Abuse grant DA03369. The Teen Alcohol Outcomes Study was supported by AA016274 and ongoing support from the Dielmann Family (D.E.W.). Y.S.N. receives support through a Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Student Research fellowship. A.R.H. receives support through National Institute on Drug Abuse grants DA033369 and DA031579. K.C.K. receives support through National Institute of Mental Health grants MH078928 and MH093612. E.S. receives support through National Institute of Mental Health grants MH084060 and MH077159.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Laboratory of NeuroGenetics, and Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

    Yuliya S Nikolova & Ahmad R Hariri

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA

    Karestan C Koenen & Sandro Galea

  3. Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    Chiou-Miin Wang

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Marianne L Seney & Etienne Sibille

  5. Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA

    Douglas E Williamson

Authors
  1. Yuliya S Nikolova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Karestan C Koenen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sandro Galea
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Chiou-Miin Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Marianne L Seney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Etienne Sibille
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Douglas E Williamson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Ahmad R Hariri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Y.S.N. designed the study, participated in the collection of the neuroimaging and genetic data for the discovery cohort, conducted all of the statistical analyses, and wrote the manuscript with A.R.H. K.C.K. and S.G. designed and coordinated the methylation analyses in the discovery cohort. C.-M.W. developed and performed the methylation assays in the replication and postmortem cohorts. M.L.S. conducted the quantitative PCR in the postmortem cohort. E.S. designed the parent protocol, supervised quantitative PCR experiments and coordinated methylation analyses in the postmortem cohort. D.E.W. designed the parent protocol for the replication cohort and coordinated the methylation assays in both the replication and postmortem cohorts. A.R.H. designed the study, coordinated all analyses and wrote the manuscript with Y.S.N. He also designed the parent protocol for the discovery cohort and the neuroimaging protocol for the replication cohort. All of the authors provided feedback on the manuscript and approved its final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuliya S Nikolova.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Integrated supplementary information

Supplementary Figure 1 SLC6A4 methylation assay PCR bias testing.

PCR bias testing was performed by EpigenDx separately for the entire ADS580 assay (red line) and CpG 14 (blue line). Data are presented for the 0-100% (a) and 0-10% (b) range.

Supplementary Figure 2 Scatterplots depicting the correlations between PC1 and bilateral amygdala reactivity in the Discovery and Replication cohorts.

The top principal component capturing 24% of the variability in SLC6A4 proximal promoter methylation in the Discovery cohort was positively correlated with left amygdala reactivity (a) and predicted right amygdala reactivity at a trend-level (b). The top principal component capturing 30% of the variability in SLC6A4 proximal promoter methylation in the Replication cohort was positively correlated with left (c), but not right (d) amygdala reactivity. *p < 0.05, #p < 0.10

Supplementary information

Supplementary Text and Figures

Supplementary Figures 1 and 2 and Supplementary Tables 1–6 (PDF 1522 kb)

Supplementary Methods Checklist

(PDF 395 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nikolova, Y., Koenen, K., Galea, S. et al. Beyond genotype: serotonin transporter epigenetic modification predicts human brain function. Nat Neurosci 17, 1153–1155 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3778

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3778

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing