Methylated CpG dinucleotides with adjacent A/T-rich sequences are often recognized by MeCP2 [27]. The proximal POMC promoter contains a number of A/T-rich stretches in the vicinity of CpG sites. We used the the ChIP assay technique to analyze the interaction between these regions and MeCP2. The primer binding sites covering CpG dinucleotides of the POMC promoter is represented in Fig. 3A. MeCP2 enrichment on the POMC promoter was increased significantly in the ARC of AF rats compared to AD rats (Fig. 3B). The PVN area where the POMC gene is not expressed was used as control tissue. MeCP2 showed strong binding on the POMC promoter in the PVN tissue. MeCP2 enrichment was unaltered in the PVN of AF rats (Fig. 3B). These results suggest that fetal alcohol exposure-induced increases in MeCP2 expression and its binding on the POMC promoter may play a role in repressing POMC expression.
