Abstract
Abstract
Objectives
To profile the mRNA m
5
C modification landscape in hippocampi from young and aged mice.
Methods
MeRIP-seq (methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing) technology was conducted to profile m
5
C-tagged peaks and genes in young and aged hippocampi. M
5
C methylation-related enzymes were detected using Western blot.
Results
The numbers of m
5
C methylation peaks and genes were increased during aging. Among 2010 different m
5
C peaks, 830 methylated peaks in 782 genes were upregulated and 1,180 methylated peaks in 1,088 genes were downregulated in the aged hippocampi. Most of the m
5
C sites in the hippocampal transcriptome were distributed at the coding sequence, while the fewest m
5
C sites found in the 5′ untranslated regions (5′ UTRs). Young and aged mice showed a similar enrichment of the most credible motif. The protein level of the m
5
C demethylase TET2 was downregulated during aging, suggesting that TET2 may potentially influence neuronal health and even cognitive function through epigenetic mechanisms.
Conclusions
Our data demonstrated different m
5
C-enriched regions in the young and aged hippocampi, providing novel insight into the possible functions of m
5
C methylation in brain aging.