Paternal cardiac injury elicits an inflammatory signal relay to the gonads with intergenerational cardiac effects in vertebrates - DNA_Met_sperm_M dataset

ABSTRACT: The blood-gonadal barrier protects the germline from parental exposures. A phenomenon known as intergenerational inheritance suggests that, exceptionally, this barrier can be surpassed with consequences for the subsequent generation. Specific diet regimes and early traumatic experiences have been among the chronic stressors shown to be able to lead to intergenerational inheritance in mammals. Less is known about how acute stress can affect the germline. Cardiac damage leads to several alterations in peripheral organs and overall affects alterations in blood flow, metabolism, and the immune response. Whether cardiac damage can also affect the reproductive system is not known and might offer new insights into the potential inheritance of CVD. Here, we used the zebrafish and mouse models to explore the intergenerational role of cardiac damage and repair. As early as one week after a cardiac cryolesion, male gonads and gametes activated responses associated with inflammation. In sperm, chromatin accessibility was altered in response to cardiac cryolesion and offspring of cryoinjured zebrafish males, revealing changes in cardiac function and cardiac gene expression. Induction of systemic sterile inflammation in the paternal generation mimicked a cardiac injury effect in the following generation, while anti-inflammatory treatments in the injured paternal generation partially recovered F1 cardiac features. Chromatin accessibility was also altered in mouse testis after a neonatal injury, and F1 hearts revealed alterations in gene expression associated with the immune response, suggesting a conserved role of sterile inflammation as a vector for intergenerational transmission of cardiac injury. This submission covers the DNA_Met_sperm_M assay: genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of mouse spermatozoa using the Infinium Mouse Methylation BeadChip (Illumina).

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE343523 | GEO | 2026/08/16

REPOSITORIES: GEO