Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
Nat Rev Neurosci. 2015 Jun;16(6):332-44. doi: 10.1038/nrn3818. Epub 2015 Apr 29.
Neurodevelopmental programming - the implementation of the genetic and epigenetic blueprints that guide and coordinate normal brain development - requires tight regulation of transcriptional processes. During prenatal and postnatal time periods, epigenetic processes fine-tune neurodevelopment towards an end product that determines how an organism interacts with and responds to exposures and experiences throughout life. Epigenetic processes also have the ability to reprogramme the epigenome in response to environmental challenges, such as maternal stress, making the organism more or less adaptive depending on the future challenges presented. Epigenetic marks generated within germ cells as a result of environmental influences throughout life can also shape future generations long before conception occurs.
神经发育编程——即实施指导和协调正常大脑发育的遗传和表观遗传蓝图——需要转录过程的严格调控。在产前和产后时期,表观遗传过程将神经发育微调为最终产物,决定了生物体如何与一生中的暴露和经历相互作用和响应。表观遗传过程还能够响应环境挑战(如母体压力)重新编程表观基因组,使生物体根据未来面临的挑战变得更加适应或不适应。由于一生中受到环境影响而在生殖细胞中产生的表观遗传标记也可以在受孕之前很久就塑造未来的几代人。