Smith, Adam et al.
Several epigenome-wide association studies of DNA methylation have highlighted altered DNA methylation in the gene in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain samples. However, no study has specifically examined histone modifications in the disease. We use chromatin immunoprecipitation-qPCR to quantify tri-methylation at histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3) and 27 (H3K27me3) in the gene in entorhinal cortex from donors with high (n = 59) or low (n = 29) Alzheimer's disease pathology. We demonstrate decreased levels of H3K4me3, a marker of active gene transcription, with no change in H3K27me3, a marker of inactive genes. H3K4me3 is negatively correlated with DNA methylation in specific regions of the gene. Our study suggests that the gene shows altered epigenetic marks indicative of reduced gene activation in Alzheimer's disease.
