"We know that very small and very large newborns have a higher chance of developing problems like diabetes or cardiovascular disease later in life," says Dr. Einstein. "So, we are trying to determine the epigenetic changes in these babies that make them more susceptible to chronic disease and premature death."

The researchers hypothesize that conditions during fetal development alter epigenetic patterns of DNA methylation in stem cells. These changes may be a marker for, or contribute to, susceptibility to type 2 diabetes and other age-related diseases. Dr. Greally and Cristina Montagna, Ph.D., assistant professor of genetics and of pathology at Einstein, are co-principal investigators on this study.

The second grant, for $1.49 million over four years, will address the epigenetic landscape of chronic kidney disease, which affects some 20 million people in the U.S. and is associated with a three-to-five-fold increase in mortality. The researchers suspect that unfavorable environmental conditions, such as poor nutrition during pregnancy, can imprint abnormal DNA methylation patterns on the fetal kidney.

Epigenetic changes may also explain why diabetes is the leading cause of renal (kidney) failure. "People with diabetes who control blood glucose levels develop fewer complications," says Dr. Susztak. "But they still face a greater risk for kidney failure and other complications - probably because their bodies remember periods from long ago when their glucose was not well controlled. We want to learn whether this so-called hyperglycemic memory is coded in DNA methylation patterns."

A total of 22 epigenomics grants were awarded by the NIH in this round of funding. Einstein was one of only two institutions to receive two or more grants.

Source: Albert Einstein College of Medicine