Steroid hormone-mediated epigenetic programming during puberty: uncovering links to depression.

DNA methylation (DNAm) is a key epigenetic modification that dynamically regulates eukaryotic development over time. DNAm has been found to influence a variety of biological processes in both normative and pathological states, such as depression. Since DNAm can serve as an interface between environmental influence and gene expression, it is a mechanism studied in the context of many pathologies, including psychiatric.

Sex-dependent gene expression during puberty has potential mechanistic implications for the development of major depressive disorder.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a complex illness with heterogeneous symptom profiles, affecting 5% of the global population. Recent molecular studies across biological systems suggest that the manifestations of MDD are significantly shaped by sex. In response, this narrative review organizes up-to-date findings on sex-specific, MDD-related gene expression into multiple biological systems-primarily available from adult human and rodent studies.

Invasive growth of brain metastases is linked to CHI3L1 release from pSTAT3-positive astrocytes.

Background: Compared to minimally invasive brain metastases (MI BrM), highly invasive (HI) lesions form abundant contacts with cells in the peritumoral brain parenchyma and are associated with poor prognosis. Reactive astrocytes (RAs) labeled by phosphorylated STAT3 (pSTAT3) have recently emerged as a promising therapeutic target for BrM. Here, we explore whether the BrM invasion pattern is influenced by pSTAT3+ RAs and may serve as a predictive biomarker for STAT3 inhibition.