Journal article
Epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of altered stress responses
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.109(23), pp.9143-9148
06/05/2012
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/108784
PMCID: PMC3384163
PMID: 22615374
Abstract
Ancestral environmental exposures have previously been shown to promote epigenetic transgenerational inheritance and influence all aspects of an individual’s life history. In addition, proximate life events such as chronic stress have documented effects on the development of physiological, neural, and behavioral phenotypes in adulthood. We used a systems biology approach to investigate in male rats the interaction of the ancestral modifications carried transgenerationally in the germ line and the proximate modifications involving chronic restraint stress during adolescence. We find that a single exposure to a common-use fungicide (vinclozolin) three generations removed alters the physiology, behavior, metabolic activity, and transcriptome in discrete brain nuclei in descendant males, causing them to respond differently to chronic restraint stress. This alteration of baseline brain development promotes a change in neural genomic activity that correlates with changes in physiology and behavior, revealing the interaction of genetics, environment, and epigenetic transgenerational inheritance in the shaping of the adult phenotype. This is an important demonstration in an animal that ancestral exposure to an environmental compound modifies how descendants of these progenitor individuals perceive and respond to a stress challenge experienced during their own life history.
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Details
- Title
- Epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of altered stress responses
- Creators
- David Crews - Section of Integrative BiologyRoss Gillette - Section of Integrative BiologySamuel V Scarpino - Section of Integrative BiologyMohan Manikkam - Center for Reproductive Biology, School of Biological SciencesMarina I Savenkova - Center for Reproductive Biology, School of Biological SciencesMichael K Skinner - Center for Reproductive Biology, School of Biological Sciences
- Publication Details
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.109(23), pp.9143-9148
- Academic Unit
- Biological Sciences, School of
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Identifiers
- 99900546988401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article