Dr. Huiping Zhang Funded R01 Grant
Identifying Brain Epitranscriptomic Changes Associated with Alcohol Use Disorder
Huiping Zhang, PhD
Award Number: 1R01AA029758-01
Chronic alcohol consumption may result in methyl-adenosine modification of brain RNAs, thus altering the stability and expression of brain RNAs involved in reward or addiction-related pathways. This R01 project will (1) identify differentially methylated and expressed messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in multiple regions of postmortem brains of subjects with alcohol use disorder (AUD), (2) validate AUD-associated brain mRNA methylation and expression changes by mouse modeling, and (3) confirm the effect of AUD-associated brain mRNA methylation changes on mRNA expression and neuronal activity by an innovative epitranscriptome editing approach. The findings will provide insight into a novel epitranscriptomic mechanism of AUD and facilitate the design of a novel AUD therapeutic strategy through altering the methylation status of specific mRNAs.
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