Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021, China; College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 101408, China.
Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021, China.
Toxicology. 2021 May 30;456:152780. doi: 10.1016/j.tox.2021.152780. Epub 2021 Apr 18.
Male fertility rates have shown a progressive decrease in recent decades. There is a growing concern about the male reproductive dysfunction caused by environmental pollutants exposure, however the underlying molecular mechanisms are still not well understood. Epigenetic modifications play a key role in the biological responses to external stressors. Therefore, this review discusses the roles of epigenetic modifications in male reproductive toxicity induced by environmental pollutants, with a particular emphasis on DNA methylation, histone modifications and miRNAs. The available literature proposed that environmental pollutants can directly or cause oxidative stress and DNA damage to induce a variety of epigenetic changes, which lead to gene dysregulation, mitochondrial dysfunction and consequent male reproductive toxicity. However, future studies focusing on more kinds of epigenetic modifications and their crosstalk as well as epidemiological data are still required to fill in the current research gaps. In addition, the intrinsic links between pollutants-mediated epigenetic regulations and male reproduction-related physiological responses deserve to be further explored.
近年来，男性生育能力呈逐渐下降趋势。人们越来越关注环境污染物暴露引起的男性生殖功能障碍，但潜在的分子机制仍不清楚。表观遗传修饰在生物对外界应激源的反应中起着关键作用。因此，本综述讨论了表观遗传修饰在环境污染物引起的男性生殖毒性中的作用，特别强调了 DNA 甲基化、组蛋白修饰和 miRNA。现有文献表明，环境污染物可以直接或通过引起氧化应激和 DNA 损伤来诱导多种表观遗传变化，从而导致基因失调、线粒体功能障碍和随后的男性生殖毒性。然而，未来仍需要更多关注各种表观遗传修饰及其相互作用以及流行病学数据的研究来填补当前的研究空白。此外，污染物介导的表观遗传调控与男性生殖相关生理反应之间的内在联系值得进一步探索。
