ABSTRACT
Alzheimer's Disease (AD), the most common type of dementia, is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by plaques of amyloid-beta (Aß) peptides found in the cerebral cortex of the brain. The pathological mechanism by which Aß aggregation leads to neurodegeneration remains unknown. Interestingly, genetic mutations do not explain most AD cases suggesting that other mechanisms are at play. Epigenetic mechanisms, such as histone post-translational modifications (PTMs), may provide insight into the development of AD. Here, we exploit a yeast Aß overexpression model to map out the histone PTM landscape associated with AD. We find a modest decrease in the acetylation levels on lysine 9 of histone H3 in the context of Aß 1-40 overexpression. This change is accompanied by a decrease in RNA levels. Our results support a potential role for H3K9ac in AD pathology and allude to the role of epigenetics in AD and other neurodegenerative diseases.
