Center for Reproductive Biology, School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4236, USA.
Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Apr;21(4):214-22. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2009.12.007. Epub 2010 Jan 14.
The ability of environmental factors to promote a phenotype or disease state not only in the individual exposed but also in subsequent progeny for successive generations is termed transgenerational inheritance. The majority of environmental factors such as nutrition or toxicants such as endocrine disruptors do not promote genetic mutations or alterations in DNA sequence. However, these factors do have the capacity to alter the epigenome. Epimutations in the germline that become permanently programmed can allow transmission of epigenetic transgenerational phenotypes. This review provides an overview of the epigenetics and biology of how environmental factors can promote transgenerational phenotypes and disease.
环境因素不仅能促进暴露个体的表型或疾病状态，还能在随后的几代后代中持续传递，这种现象被称为跨代遗传。大多数环境因素，如营养物质，或环境污染物，如内分泌干扰物，并不会促进基因突变或 DNA 序列的改变。然而，这些因素确实有能力改变表观基因组。生殖细胞中的表观遗传改变如果被永久编程，就可以允许表观遗传跨代表型的传递。这篇综述概述了环境因素如何促进跨代表型和疾病的表观遗传学和生物学机制。
