Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Epigenetic Regulation of Inflammation by Dopamine in Primary Human Macrophages

doi: 10.64898/2026.01.21.700899

Figure Lengend Snippet: Primary human monocyte-derived macrophages (hMDM) from sixteen donors were treated with dopamine (10 -6 M) for 3 hours with or without pre-treatment using hypomethylating agents 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine (dAZA; 10 -6 M), 5-azacytidine (AZA; 10 -6 M), or vehicle control. RNA and DNA were isolated for analysis of IL-1β gene expression by qPCR and IL-1β DNA methylation, respectively. (A) Dopamine increased IL-1β mRNA expression, an effect inhibited by dAZA (n= 7-8 donors, *p<0.05). (B) AZA pretreatment produced a similar inhibitory effect on dopamine-induced IL-1β expression, trending toward statistical significance (n=5-6, p=0.0513). (C) Dopamine treatment significantly increased methylated IL-1β levels compared to vehicle control (n=16, p<0.05). (D) Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) increased IL-1β DNA methylation; however, this effect did not reach statistical significance in this donor cohort (n=16). (E) LPS-induced changes in IL-1β DNA methylation were significantly correlated with dopamine-induced changes within the same donors, indicating consistent donor-specific responsiveness across stimuli (n=16, **p<0.01).

Article Snippet: Both high-methylated and low-methylated human genomic DNA (80-8061-HGHM5 and 80-8062-HGUM5 from EpigenDx) were bisulfite treated and used as controls for the primer sets.

Techniques: Derivative Assay, Control, Isolation, Gene Expression, DNA Methylation Assay, Expressing, Produced, Methylation