3/11 Epigenetic Regulation of Neuroimmune Pathways

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PROJECT SUMMARY Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a debilitating neuropsychiatric disorder, negatively affecting the lives of millions of individuals worldwide. Chronic ethanol exposure is known to alter multiple molecular pathways throughout the central nervous system, including aberrant neuroimmune signaling. As part of the Integrative Neuroscience Initiative on Alcoholism (INIA) Neuroimmune consortium, the proposed collaborative research project will focus on the contribution of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) to molecular adaptations in the neuroimmune system and development of AUD. The non-coding transcriptome significantly outnumbers the protein-coding transcripts, but the biological function of most non-coding RNAs has yet to be determined. Several studies have suggested that lncRNAs are critical epigenetic regulators of genomic structure and long-term gene expression. We hypothesis that lncRNAs are epigenetic modulators of gene expression in response to ethanol that actively coordinate persistent alterations in cellular function and animal behavior. We have proposed three specific aims to experimentally test this hypothesis and help accomplish the overall goals of the INIA consortium. Aim 1 will use Perturb-Seq to functionally test the involved of lncRNAs in neuroimmune gene expressing using an established in vitro model of ethanol exposure. Combining use of the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) genome editing approach with high-throughput RNA- Sequencing this aim will identify neuroimmune pathways regulated by specific lncRNAs. Aim 2 will use chromosome conformation capture sequencing to demonstrate physical changes in the spatial orientation of chromatin (e.g., promoter-enhancer interactions) due to excessive ethanol exposure. This specific aim will create a new genome-wide chromatin interaction map that will identify regulatory elements involved in the ethanol-responsive neuroimmune pathways. Aim 3 will use CRISPR-mediated genome editing in vivo strategies to determine the role of individual lncRNAs in regulating neuroimmune activation and ethanol-related behavioral phenotypes. This specific aim will create several novel genetically engineered lines of mice, for multiple collaborative projects, to test ethanol-related behaviors and molecular mechanisms associated with excessive ethanol exposure. Completion of the proposed research will broaden our understanding for epigenetic regulation of the neuroimmune system in AUD and determine molecular adaptations underlying excessive ethanol exposure.