Pang Terence Y C, Short Annabel K, Bredy Timothy W, Hannan Anthony J
Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia.
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92617, USA.
Curr Opin Behav Sci. 2017 Apr;14:140-147. doi: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.02.007. Epub 2017 Mar 8.
In recent years, it has become evident that pre-conceptual exposure of males to various environmental factors induces epigenetic changes in sperm, which can mediate the transmission of acquired traits in their offspring. The most thoroughly examined paternal exposures involve stress and elevated corticosterone, which have been shown to modulate offspring phenotypes in a manner that is relevant to predisposition to brain disorders, and psychiatric illness in particular. Recent seminal studies have demonstrated that key epigenetic information transmitted via the paternal germline involves small non-coding (snc) RNA transcripts such as microRNAs. Following fertilisation, these sncRNAs appear to regulate development so as to modify the phenotype of the offspring. Understanding the mechanisms involved in such transgenerational effects may facilitate future screening of human sperm for 'epigenetic health' and the tailoring of therapeutic interventions according to genetic and epigenetic contributions to illness.
近年来，有一点已变得很明显，即男性在受孕前接触各种环境因素会诱导精子发生表观遗传变化，而这可以介导获得性性状在其后代中的传递。研究最为深入的父方暴露因素包括压力和皮质酮水平升高，这些因素已被证明以与脑部疾病尤其是精神疾病易感性相关的方式调节后代的表型。最近的开创性研究表明，通过父系生殖细胞系传递的关键表观遗传信息涉及微小RNA等小非编码（snc）RNA转录本。受精后，这些sncRNA似乎会调节发育，从而改变后代的表型。了解这种跨代效应所涉及的机制，可能有助于未来对人类精子进行 “表观遗传健康” 筛查，并根据基因和表观遗传对疾病的影响来定制治疗干预措施。
