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Review
. 2019 Dec:59:189-206.
doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2019.09.012. Epub 2019 Oct 18.

Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance: from phenomena to molecular mechanisms

Noa Liberman  1 , Simon Yuan Wang  1 , Eric Lieberman Greer  2
Affiliations
Review

Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance: from phenomena to molecular mechanisms

Noa Liberman et al. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2019 Dec.

Abstract

Inherited information not encoded in the DNA sequence can regulate a variety of complex phenotypes. However, how this epigenetic information escapes the typical epigenetic erasure that occurs upon fertilization and how it regulates behavior is still unclear. Here we review recent examples of brain related transgenerational epigenetic inheritance and delineate potential molecular mechanisms that could regulate how non-genetic information could be transmitted.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement

Nothing declared

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Several behavior and environmental cues have been proposed to induce phenotypic changes in the parental generation that can be transmitted to subsequent generations through the germline in a non-genetic manner.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Putative carriers of non-genetic information.
Different mechanisms that may transmit non-genetic information are depicted here; DNA methylation, non-coding RNAs, histone post translational modifications, prions and microbiota.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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