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Integrative epigenomic and transcriptomic analyses reveal metabolic switching by intermittent fasting in brain

  • Gavin Yong Quan Ng
  • , Dominic Paul Lee Kok Sheng
  • , Han Gyu Bae
  • , Sung Wook Kang
  • , David Yang Wei Fann
  • , Jinsu Park
  • , Joonki Kim
  • , Asfa Alli-Shaik
  • , Jeongmi Lee
  • , Eunae Kim
  • , Sunyoung Park
  • , Jeung Whan Han
  • , Vardan Karamyan
  • , Eitan Okun
  • , Thameem Dheen
  • , Manoor Prakash Hande
  • , Raghu Vemuganti
  • , Karthik Mallilankaraman
  • , Lina H.K. Lim
  • , Brian K. Kennedy
  • Grant R. Drummond, Christopher G. Sobey, Jayantha Gunaratne, Mark P. Mattson, Roger Sik Yin Foo, Dong Gyu Jo, Thiruma V. Arumugam
  • National University of Singapore
  • Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore
  • Sungkyunkwan University
  • Korea Institute of Science and Technology
  • Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
  • Bar-Ilan University
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Buck Institute for Age Research
  • La Trobe University
  • Johns Hopkins University

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Intermittent fasting (IF) remains the most effective intervention to achieve robust anti-aging effects and attenuation of age-related diseases in various species. Epigenetic modifications mediate the biological effects of several environmental factors on gene expression; however, no information is available on the effects of IF on the epigenome. Here, we first found that IF for 3 months caused modulation of H3K9 trimethylation (H3K9me3) in the cerebellum, which in turn orchestrated a plethora of transcriptomic changes involved in robust metabolic switching processes commonly observed during IF. Second, a portion of both the epigenomic and transcriptomic modulations induced by IF was remarkably preserved for at least 3 months post-IF refeeding, indicating that memory of IF-induced epigenetic changes was maintained. Notably, though, we found that termination of IF resulted in a loss of H3K9me3 regulation of the transcriptome. Collectively, our study characterizes the novel effects of IF on the epigenetic-transcriptomic axis, which controls myriad metabolic processes. The comprehensive analyses undertaken in this study reveal a molecular framework for understanding how IF impacts the metabolo-epigenetic axis of the brain and will serve as a valuable resource for future research.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2171-2194
Number of pages24
JournalGeroScience
Volume44
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2022

Keywords

  • Cerebellum
  • Epigenetics
  • Intermittent fasting
  • Metabolism
  • Transcriptomics

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