Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatr. Sep 22, 2016; 6(3): 294-302
Published online Sep 22, 2016. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v6.i3.294
Gene environment interaction in periphery and brain converge to modulate behavioral outcomes: Insights from the SP1 transient early in life interference rat model
Eyal Asor, Dorit Ben-Shachar
Eyal Asor, Dorit Ben-Shachar, Laboratory of Psychobiology, Department of Psychiatry, Rambam Medical Center and B. Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, Haifa 31096, Israel
Author contributions: Both authors contributed equally to the writing of this review paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dorit Ben-Shachar, Professor, Laboratory of Psychobiology, Department of Psychiatry, Rambam Medical Center and B. Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, Technion, PO Box 9649, Haifa 31096, Israel. shachar@tx.technion.ac.il
Telephone: +972-4-8295224 Fax: +972-4-8295220
Received: May 23, 2016
Peer-review started: May 25, 2016
First decision: July 6, 2016
Revised: July 27, 2016
Accepted: August 6, 2016
Article in press: August 8, 2016
Published online: September 22, 2016
Processing time: 118 Days and 16.6 Hours
Abstract

It is generally assumed that behavior results from an interaction between susceptible genes and environmental stimuli during critical life stages. The present article reviews the main theoretical and practical concepts in the research of gene environment interaction, emphasizing the need for models simulating real life complexity. We review a novel approach to study gene environment interaction in which a brief post-natal interference with the expression of multiple genes, by hindering the activity of the ubiquitous transcription factor specificity protein 1 (Sp1) is followed by later-in-life exposure of rats to stress. Finally, this review discusses the role of peripheral processes in behavioral responses, with the Sp1 model as one example demonstrating how specific behavioral patterns are linked to modulations in both peripheral and central physiological processes. We suggest that models, which take into account the tripartite reciprocal interaction between the central nervous system, peripheral systems and environmental stimuli will advance our understanding of the complexity of behavior.

Keywords: Gene-environmental interaction; Specificity protein 1; Mithramycin; Stress; Animal-model; Essential amino acids; Tryptophan; Insulin

Core tip: We review the main theoretical and practical concepts in the research of gene environment interaction. We present a novel approach to study gene environment interaction in which a brief post-natal interference with the expression of multiple genes by inhibiting the activity of the ubiquitous transcription factor specificity protein 1 is followed by later-in-life exposure of rats to stress. Finally, we discuss the role of peripheral processes in behavioral responses, demonstrating how specific behavioral patterns are linked to modulations in interwoven brain and body physiological processes due to gene and environmental changes.