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Review
. 2015 Jul:43:85-95.
doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2015.06.006. Epub 2015 Jun 30.

Intergenerational epigenetic inheritance in models of developmental programming of adult disease

Denise S Fernandez-Twinn  1 , Miguel Constância  2 , Susan E Ozanne  3
Affiliations
Review

Intergenerational epigenetic inheritance in models of developmental programming of adult disease

Denise S Fernandez-Twinn et al. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2015 Jul.

Abstract

It is now well established that the environment to which we are exposed during fetal and neonatal life can have a long-term impact on our health. This has been termed the developmental origins of health and disease. Factors known to have such programming effects include intrauterine nutrient availability (determined by maternal nutrition and placental function), endocrine disruptors, toxins and infectious agents. Epigenetic processes have emerged as a key mechanism by which the early environment can permanently influence cell function and metabolism after multiple rounds of cell division. More recently it has been suggested that programmed effects can be observed beyond the first generation and that therefore epigenetic mechanisms could form the basis of transmission of phenotype from parent to child to grandchild and beyond. Here we review the evidence for such processes.

Keywords: Chromatin; Developmental programming; Global nutrient restriction; Histone modifications; Intergenerational epigenetic inheritance; Intrauterine growth restriction; Maternal obesity; Maternal protein restriction; Methylation; MicroRNAs; piRNAs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure Summary

The authors have nothing to disclose.

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