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SUMMARY:Does war change our DNA? Implications of recent research in epigen
 etics - Prof. Peter Pregelj\, University of Ljubljana
DTSTART:20120430T160000Z
DTEND:20120430T173000Z
UID:TALK37429@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Josip Glaurdic
DESCRIPTION:The impact of war and terrorism on children has been the focus
  of a growing number of studies worldwide. Recent discoveries in epigeneti
 cs suggest ways in which the environment\, including an environment define
 d by warfare\, may affect brain plasticity as well as one's stress respons
 e. It is well established that early environmental influences in personal 
 development\, particularly stress and traumatic experiences in childhood o
 r even in the prenatal period\, can remain pervasive across the lifespan\,
  the phenomenon called 'developmental programming'. It has been hypothesiz
 ed that the long-term consequences of early-life adversity represent epige
 netic influences. Recently\, studies have begun to provide empirical suppo
 rt of experience-driven epigenetic modifications to the genome. It was rep
 orted that childhood adversities could change the DNA structure by specifi
 c DNA methylation. It is also known that binding of the transcription fact
 ors to the specific regions of the DNA is influenced by different mechanis
 ms such as DNA sequence especially in the promotor regions on the one hand
 \, but also epigenetic mechanisms such as methylation of DNA molecule or h
 istone modulation on the other. Especially\, function of the neuronal stru
 ctures involved in the stress response could be permanently changed by exp
 osure to severe stress. It has been suggested that changes in the glucocor
 ticoid system are mediated by tissue-specific changes in gene expression. 
 Epigenetic mechanisms could also be involved in pathophysiology of mental 
 disorders and suicidal behaviour and preclinical data suggests that epigen
 etic DNA modifications could pass from one generation to the next.
LOCATION:S2\, Alison Richard Building\, 7 West Road
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