AI Article Synopsis
- Oxytocin and vasopressin are important biomarkers linked to pregnancy, social behavior, and mental health.
- Epigenetics helps explain how environmental factors can influence behavior through biological mechanisms, like DNA methylation.
- A new non-invasive DNA methylation assay was developed to analyze specific regions of the oxytocin system using minimal DNA, though further validation with other gene function biomarkers is needed.
Article Abstract
Oxytocin and its paralogue, vasopressin, are widely studied biomarkers in relation to pregnancy and birth, maternal and social behavior, and mental health. Epigenetics is a biological mechanism that mediates the link between environmental influences and behavioral patterns. In a candidate gene approach, we describe here a DNA methylation assay of two regions within the oxytocin system, using human buccal cells and next-generation sequencing. Two nanograms of DNA were sufficient to assess the DNA methylation status of 28 CpG sites (22 corresponding to the oxytocin receptor and 6 corresponding to the vasopressin/oxytocin intergenic region). This method proved to be non-invasive for the participants, and reproducible; its validity remains to be confirmed alongside other biomarkers of gene function.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1759-5_6 | DOI Listing |
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