Severe stress during childhood can increase a person’s vulnerability to anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders when new challenges arise later in life. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Princeton University have now identified a biological process that may help explain how early trauma can have such long-lasting effects on the brain.
Researchers have known that stress during early development can alter gene activity in the brain. The new findings suggest that these changes stem partly from the way brain cells package their DNA. By making certain stress-related genes easier to activate, early adversity may leave the brain more reactive and less able to tolerate future stress.
The study was published Aug. 7 in Neuron.
“We have uncovered a new biological process linking experience of early-life adversity to this long-term vulnerability to mental illness,” said Meaghan Creed, PhD, an associate professor of anesthesiology at WashU Medicine and the study’s co-corresponding author. “This finding reveals a physical scar left by trauma experienced during development inside brain cells, providing scientists with a concrete biological target to develop new treatments and interventions.”
How Childhood Stress Changes DNA Packaging
More than half of children worldwide experience some form of early-life stress, including abuse, violence, or drug use within the household, and other traumatic events. Experiencing four or more of these adverse events is associated with a sharply higher risk of physical and mental health problems later in life.
To understand how these experiences can physically alter the developing brain, the researchers focused on the ventral tegmental area. This brain region contains neurons that produce dopamine, a chemical messenger involved in processing important experiences, including rewards and adversity. When stress causes these neurons to become abnormally active, reward processing can be disrupted, potentially increasing vulnerability to anxiety and depression.
The team then examined the epigenome inside these dopamine-producing neurons. The epigenome consists of molecular tags that help control whether genes are switched on or off, ultimately influencing how cells behave.
Catherine Jensen Peña, PhD, an assistant professor at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute and the study’s senior and co-corresponding author, compared DNA inside cells to a coiled slinky. DNA is wrapped around proteins called histones, which help control how tightly or loosely it is packed. When this genetic slinky is tightly compressed, genes are less accessible and remain switched off. When the structure loosens and opens, the genes become easier for the cell to activate.
SETD7 Primes Brain Cells for Future Stress
In young mice exposed to stress, the researchers found elevated levels of an enzyme called SETD7 in dopamine neurons compared with mice raised under typical conditions. SETD7 helps add a chemical marker called H3K4me1 to the DNA packaging system. According to Peña, this tag encourages the genetic structure to open, making the cell more responsive to what is happening in its environment.
To test whether SETD7 itself could produce these changes, the scientists artificially increased the enzyme in young mice that had not experienced early-life stress. As the animals matured, their dopamine-producing brain cells developed a more open DNA structure, making stress response genes easier to activate.
These mice also became less tolerant of stress as adults. Animals that had elevated SETD7 levels when they were young developed more reactive dopamine neurons and showed more anxious behavior than mice whose SETD7 levels remained normal throughout life.
Blocking the Molecular “Scar”
The researchers then tested the opposite approach. After early-life stress, they prevented SETD7 from adding excessive amounts of the H3K4me1 marker. This kept the DNA structure more tightly closed and protected the mice from becoming unusually sensitive to stress later in life.
Even after experiencing stress both early in development and again as adults, mice with reduced SETD7 activity behaved much like unstressed animals. They remained similarly social and exploratory, while activity in their dopamine neurons stayed at normal levels.
The results suggest that SETD7 and the changes it produces in DNA packaging may help create a lasting molecular memory of early adversity. They also give researchers a specific biological pathway to investigate as a possible target for future interventions.
“There are currently no treatments for what early-life stress does to the brain, partially because we have not had a clear picture of what molecular mechanisms to target,” Peña said. “This work is exciting because it reveals a clear mechanism, and also helps explain why the impact of stress is both latent and broad. Additionally, if we can step in with supportive care, therapy or social resources to buffer children during those sensitive windows of development, we may be able to protect the epigenome — preventing the genetic slinky from locking into an open position and perhaps giving the developing brain a chance to build natural resilience.”