Robert Waterland, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine
E-mail: waterland@bcm.edu
Research Interests
Early Nutritional Influences on Mammalian Epigenetic Gene Regulation
Research in the Waterland laboratory aims to understand how nutrition during prenatal and early postnatal development affects individual susceptibility to various adult-onset chronic diseases. Dr. Waterland’s group focuses on nutritional influences on developmental epigenetics as a likely mediating mechanism. Epigenetic gene regulatory mechanisms regulate tissue-specific patterns of gene expression and are established during development. Cytosine methylation is an epigenetic mechanism of particular interest because mammalian one-carbon metabolism, which supplies the methyl groups for DNA methylation, is intimately dependent on dietary methyl donors and cofactors. The Waterland group is increasingly interested in whether maternal obesity and nutrition before and during pregnancy affect developmental epigenetics in the hypothalamus and, consequently, body weight regulation in her offspring.
Epigenetics in the News:
Oct. 7, 2003
The New York Times, “A Pregnant Mother’s Diet May Turn the Genes Around”
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE4DD103CF934A35753C1A9659C8B63
July 5, 2004
The Scientist, “Epigenetics: Genome, Meet Your Environment”
https://notes.utk.edu/bio/greenberg.nsf/0/b360905554fdb7d985256ec5006a7755?OpenDocument
Dec.16, 2005
Science, “Supplements Restore Gene Function via Methylation”
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/sci;310/5755/1760.pdf
Nov. 22, 2006
Discover Magazine, “DNA is Not Destiny”
http://discovermagazine.com/2006/nov/cover
Oct. 21, 2008
ScienCentral, “Inherited Obesity is Amplified Across Generations”
http://www.sciencentral.com/video/2008/10/21/inherited-obesity-is-amplified-across-generations/
Oct. 23, 2009
The New York Times, "Scientists Seek Origins of Obesity in the Womb"
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/23/science/AP-US-SCI-Inheriting-Obesity.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=obesity&st=cse
Postdoctoral position available
An NIH-funded position is currently available for a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to explore fundamental questions in mammalian epigenetics, with a focus on epigenetic mechanisms involved in body weight regulation.
Representative Publications
Epigenomic profiling indicates a role for DNA methylation in early postnatal liver development.
Waterland RA, Kellermayer R, Rached MT, Tatevian N, Gomes MV, Zhang J, Zhang L, Chakravarty A, Zhu W, Laritsky E, Zhang W, Wang X, Shen L. Hum Mol Genet 2009 (E-pub available).
Methyl donor supplementation prevents transgenerational amplification of obesity.
Waterland RA, Travisano M, Tahiliani KG, Rached MT, Mirza S.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Sep;32(9):1373-9. Epub 2008 Jul 15.
PMID: 18626486 [PubMed - in process]
Related Articles
Free article in PMC | at journal site
Dnmt1 deficiency promotes CAG repeat expansion in the mouse germline.
Dion V, Lin Y, Hubert L Jr, Waterland RA, Wilson JH.
Hum Mol Genet. 2008 May 1;17(9):1306-17. Epub 2008 Feb 5.
PMID: 18252747 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related Articles
Genome-wide profiling of DNA methylation reveals a class of normally methylated CpG island promoters.
Shen L, Kondo Y, Guo Y, Zhang J, Zhang L, Ahmed S, Shu J, Chen X, Waterland RA, Issa JP.
PLoS Genet. 2007 Oct;3(10):2023-36. Epub 2007 Sep 10.
PMID: 17967063 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related Articles
Free article in PMC | at journal site
Diet-induced hypermethylation at agouti viable yellow is not inherited transgenerationally through the female.
Waterland RA, Travisano M, Tahiliani KG.
FASEB J. 2007 Oct;21(12):3380-5. Epub 2007 Jun 5.
PMID: 17551099 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related Articles
Free article at journal site
Epigenetic epidemiology of the developmental origins hypothesis.
Waterland RA, Michels KB.
Annu Rev Nutr. 2007;27:363-88. Review.
PMID: 17465856 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related Articles
Maternal methyl supplements increase offspring DNA methylation at Axin Fused.
Waterland RA, Dolinoy DC, Lin JR, Smith CA, Shi X, Tahiliani KG.
Genesis. 2006 Sep;44(9):401-6.
PMID: 16868943 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related Articles
Post-weaning diet affects genomic imprinting at the insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf2) locus.
Waterland RA, Lin JR, Smith CA, Jirtle RL.
Hum Mol Genet. 2006 Mar 1;15(5):705-16. Epub 2006 Jan 18.
PMID: 16421170 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related Articles
Free article at journal site
Transposable elements: targets for early nutritional effects on epigenetic gene regulation.
Waterland RA, Jirtle RL.
Mol Cell Biol. 2003 Aug;23(15):5293-300.
PMID: 12861015 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Related Articles
Free article in PMC | at journal site