Effect of acute ethanol on medidal prefrontal cortex across BXD genetic mapping panel and progenitors.

In order to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying individual variation in sensitivity to ethanol we profiled the prefrontal cortex transcriptomes of two inbred strains that exhibit divergent responses to acute ethanol, the C57BL6/J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2) strains, as well as 27 members of the BXD recombinant inbred panel, which was derived from a B6 x D2 cross. With this dataset we were able to identify several gene co-expression networks that were robustly altered by acute ethanol across the BXD panel. These ethanol-responsive gene-enriched networks were heavily populated by genes regulating synaptic transmission and neuroplasticity, and showed strong genetic linkage to discreet chromosomal loci. Network-based measurements of node importance identified several hub genes as established regulators of ethanol response phenotypes, while other hubs represent novel candidate modulators of ethanol responses.

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Wolen AR, Phillips CA, Langston MA, Putman AH, Vorster PJ, Bruce NA, York TP, Williams RW, Miles MF