Transgenerational epigenetic programming via sperm microRNA recapitulates effects of paternal stress.

ABSTRACT: Epigenetic signatures in germ cells, capable of both responding to the parental environment and shaping offspring neurodevelopment, are uniquely positioned to mediate transgenerational outcomes. However, molecular mechanisms by which these marks may communicate experience-dependent information across generations are currently unknown. In our model of chronic paternal stress, we previously identified nine microRNAs (miRs) that were increased in the sperm of stressed sires and associated with reduced hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress axis reactivity in offspring. In the current study, we rigorously examine the hypothesis that these sperm miRs function postfertilization to alter offspring stress responsivity and, using zygote microinjection of the nine specific miRs, demonstrated a

SUBMITTER: Rodgers AB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4640733 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature