Editorial: Environmental factors affecting the germ line epigenome
Environmental influences on the male germ cell epigenome can promote male infertility. In recent years, epigenetic mechanisms regulating gene expression have thus raised much interest in reproductive biology, given the possibility of inherited acquired traits through the germ line . Environmental fa...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2023 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/297159 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/297159 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Epigenetics Germline Environmental factors Epigenome Gene expression |
| Sumario: | Environmental influences on the male germ cell epigenome can promote male infertility. In recent years, epigenetic mechanisms regulating gene expression have thus raised much interest in reproductive biology, given the possibility of inherited acquired traits through the germ line . Environmental factors can induce changes in gene expression without altering DNA sequence through mechanisms including DNA methylation, histone post-translational modifications (PTMs), chromatin remodeling, and non-coding RNAs ). These mechanisms differentially signal chromatin states promoting open/transcription-permissive or closed/repressed states, or modifying the activity of regulatory elements such as enhancers and promoters . Diet, sedentary life, drug consumption or abuse, and exposure to endocrine disruptors may induce stable modifications of the mammalian germline and contribute to trans-generational effects. Therefore, much current research is focused on determining how environmental factors influence the germ cell epigenome, if they do, to encode transmissible, acquired traits. This Research Topic gathers several contributions highlighting possible environmental influences on male germ cell epigenome which can result in male infertility. The first article on this Topic (Faure et al., 2021) shows that in-utero exposure to metformin lowers male fertility without changes in sperm production or motility, likely promoted by hypermethylation of genomic DNA associated with a decreased expression of TET1. After birth, we learn through the study of Fenclová et al. (2022), that exposure to endocrine disruptors, such as bisphenols, through maternal milk promotes changes in H3 dimethylation and H2 phosphorylation. These epigenetic changes affect early embryonic development, the quality of germ cells, and thus spermatozoa, which could be the origin of male idiopathic infertility. |
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