Paternal SARS-CoV-2 infection impacts sperm small noncoding RNAs and increases anxiety in offspring in a sex-dependent manner.

ABSTRACT: Given that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the COVID-19 pandemic, constitutes a major environmental challenge faced by billions of people worldwide, we investigated whether paternal pre-conceptual SARS-CoV-2 infection has impacts on sperm RNA content, and intergenerational (F1) and transgenerational (F2) effects on offspring phenotypes. Using an established mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 (P21) preclinical model, we infected adult male mice with the virus, or performed a mock control infection, and bred them with naïve female mice four weeks later, when males were no longer infectious. Here we show that offspring of infected sires display increased anxiety-like behaviors. Additionally, the F1 offspring have significant transcriptomic changes in their hippocampus. Various sperm small noncoding RNAs, inc

SUBMITTER: Kleeman EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12515249 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature