Intergenerational Transmission of DNA Methylation Signatures Associated with Early Life Stress.

ABSTRACT: Early life stress in humans (i.e. maltreatment, violence exposure, loss of a loved one) and in rodents (i.e. disrupted attachment or nesting, electric shock, restraint, predator odor) occurs during critical steps of neural circuit formation. ELS in humans is associated with increased risk for developmental psychopathology, including anxious and depressive phenotypes. The biological mechanisms underlying these potentially persistent maladaptive changes involve long-term epigenetic modifications, which have been suggested to be potentially transmissible to subsequent generations. DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that modifies gene expression patterns in response to environmental challenges and influences mutation rates. It remains to be seen whether a functionally relevant fraction

SUBMITTER: Stenz L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6225454 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature