Evidence mapPaperPMID 40223401Full record

ArticlePhysiological reports2025

DNA hypermethylation preceded by H3K27 trimethylation is linked to downregulation of gene expression in disuse muscle atrophy in male mice.

Junya Shimizu, Fuminori Kawano

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Article in Physiological reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Epigenetic Mechanisms of Vitamin D in the Aging Process: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026
    Review
  2. Molecular Framework of the Onset and Progression of Skeletal Muscle Aging.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  3. Review
4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Junya ShimizuGraduate School of Health Science, Matsumoto University, Nagano, Japan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5532-7637
Fuminori KawanoGraduate School of Health Science, Matsumoto University, Nagano, Japan.

Funding

MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) 23KJ2061
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Disuse muscle atrophy can result in downregulated gene expression vital to muscle integrity, yet the mechanisms driving this downregulation remain unclear. Epigenetic alterations regulate transcriptional potential, with repressive changes suppressing gene expression. This study explored epigenetic mechanisms of gene downregulation during disuse muscle atrophy. Male C57BL/6J mice underwent hindlimb suspension for 3 or 7 days. The vastus intermedius (VI) muscle was analyzed, showing unchanged mass on day 3, but on day 7, decreased mass and reduced fiber size were assessed via immunohistochemistry. Corresponding to this atrophy timing, qPCR analysis revealed nine downregulated genes on day 7, which were selected for epigenetic analysis; collectively, they showed no downregulation on day 3. Among the nine genes, methylated DNA immunoprecipitation revealed significantly elevated DNA methylation (hypermethylation) in the upstream regions of transcription start sites (TSS) on day 7, which overall negatively correlated with gene expression. Histone marks (H3K27me3, H3K4me3, H3.3, and total H3) were also assessed using chromatin immunoprecipitation, revealing that the repressive histone mark H3K27me3 increased in the regions on day 3 but decreased on day 7. These findings suggest that DNA hypermethylation in the upstream regions preceded by H3K27me3 enrichment contributes to the downregulation of gene expression during disuse muscle atrophy.

Indexed as

DNA MethylationHistonesMuscular AtrophyMuscular Disorders, AtrophicAnimalsDown-RegulationEpigenesis, GeneticHindlimb SuspensionMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLMuscle, SkeletalHistonesdisuse muscle atrophyDNA methylationepigenetic alterationsgene expressionH3K27me3

Identifiers

PMID40223401
PMCPMC11994892

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.