Project description:In the context of male reproductive health, epidemiological studies have observed reduced testis size and abnormal sperm counts and morphology in adult men exposed in utero, although these findings are not always repeated. The ambiguity of these reports is confounded by a lack of controlled animal studies investigating the effects of maternal cigarette smoke exposure on male offspring reproductive health. In this study we examined the effects of cigarette induced reproductive toxicity on male offspring exposed during the gestational and weaning period using our novel direct nasal exposure mouse model of cigarette smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and female subfertility. This was done too gain a better understanding of the adverse effects of gestational maternal smoking on male offspring fertility.
Project description:In the context of male reproductive health, epidemiological studies have observed reduced testis size and abnormal sperm counts and morphology in adult men exposed in utero, although these findings are not always repeated. The ambiguity of these reports is confounded by a lack of controlled animal studies investigating the effects of maternal cigarette smoke exposure on male offspring reproductive health. In this study we examined the effects of cigarette induced reproductive toxicity on male offspring exposed during the gestational and weaning period using our novel direct nasal exposure mouse model of cigarette smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and female subfertility. This was done too gain a better understanding of the adverse effects of gestational maternal smoking on male offspring fertility. C57BL/6 5 week-old female mice were exposed via the nose-only to cigarette smoke [twelve 3R4F reference cigarettes (University of Kentucky, USA) twice/day, five times per week, for 12-18 weeks]. Each exposure lasted 60 minutes. Control mice received room air. In total, 27 mice underwent cigarette smoke exposure. Eleven week-old female mice exposed to cigarette smoke for 6 weeks were separated into groups of three and housed with a single control stud male aged 7-8 weeks with proven fertility for a maximum of 12 weeks. Females were monitored every second day for post-coital plugs and pregnancy. Pregnant females were separated into single cages and litter sizes/pup weights recorded. Smoke exposure via dams continued throughout mating/pregnancy/lactation until weaning of pups at 21days post birth. The testis of exposed offspring were then collected for RNA extraction and hybridization on an Illumina Sentrix Mouse ref-8 v2 Beadchip
Project description:We collected whole genome testis expression data from hybrid zone mice. We integrated GWAS mapping of testis expression traits and low testis weight to gain insight into the genetic basis of hybrid male sterility.
Project description:Introduction: Prenatal and postnatal cigarette smoke exposure enhances the risk of developing asthma. Despite this as well as other smoking related risks, 11% of women still smoke during pregnancy. We hypothesized that cigarette smoke exposure during prenatal development generates long lasting differential methylation altering transcriptional activity that correlates with disease. Methods: In a house dust mite (HDM) model of allergic airway disease, we measured airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and airway inflammation between mice exposed prenatally to cigarette smoke (CS) or filtered air (FA). DNA methylation and gene expression were then measured in lung tissue. Results: We demonstrate that HDM-treated CS mice develop a more severe allergic airway disease compared to HDM-treated FA mice including increased AHR and airway inflammation. While DNA methylation changes between the two HDM-treated groups failed to reach genome-wide significance, 99 DMRs had an uncorrected p-value < 0.001. 6 of these 99 DMRs were selected for validation, based on the immune function of adjacent genes, and only 2 of the 6 DMRs confirmed the bisulfite sequencing data. Additionally, genes near these 6 DMRs (Lif, Il27ra, Tle4, Ptk7, Nfatc2, and Runx3) are differentially expressed between HDM-treated CS mice and HDM-treated FA mice. Conclusions: Our findings confirm that prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke is sufficient to modify allergic airway disease, however, it is unlikely that specific methylation changes account for the exposure-response relationship. These findings highlight the important role in utero cigarette smoke exposure plays in the development of allergic airway disease. Lung DNA methylation profiles of mice exposed in utero to cigarette smoke (CS) then treated with house dust mite (HDM, n = 8) or saline (n = 6), or exposed in utero to filtered air (FA) then treated with HDM (n = 9) or saline (n = 6)
Project description:Single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) was used to profile the transcriptome of 5,264 nuclei in mouse adult testis. This dataset includes two samples from two different individuals. This dataset is part of a larger evolutionary study of adult testis at the single-nucleus level (97,521 single-nuclei in total) across mammals including 10 representatives of the three main mammalian lineages: human, chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, gibbon, rhesus macaque, marmoset, mouse (placental mammals); grey short-tailed opossum (marsupials); and platypus (egg-laying monotremes). Corresponding data were generated for a bird (red junglefowl, the progenitor of domestic chicken), to be used as an evolutionary outgroup.