Chromatin accessibility in mouse hypothalamic arcuate nucleus in puberty onset. Chromatin accessibility in mouse hypothalamic arcuate nucleus in puberty onset

To better understand the epigenetic mechanism underlying pubertal onset, the hypothalamic genome-wide chromatin accessibility patterns in mouse arcuate nucleus at early and late pubertal stages were explored. Female mice have been widely used in multiple studies on pubertal development as they present the similar molecular behaviors in HPG axis and stable cycles of menstrual calendar like human. Hypothalamic ARC underwent a huge epigenetic and genetic reprogramming to adapt to the response and feedback on sexual hormones during the stages of early pubertal (2-5-week of age) and late puberty (5-8-week of age) . We harvested 4- and 8-week hypothalamic ARC and employed ATAC-seq on a genome-wide scale. Combined with previous RRBS, RRHP and RNA-seq, the connections between DNA (hydroxyl)methylation in retroelements and gene expression were studied, emphasizing the importance of epigenetic alterations in regulating transcription in puberty onset.