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Review
. 2021 Jan 19:2021:6632719.
doi: 10.1155/2021/6632719. eCollection 2021.

Epigenetic Mechanisms of Paternal Stress in Offspring Development and Diseases

Xingyun Xu  1   2 , Zhigang Miao  2 , Miao Sun  1 , Bo Wan  2
Affiliations
Review

Epigenetic Mechanisms of Paternal Stress in Offspring Development and Diseases

Xingyun Xu et al. Int J Genomics. .

Abstract

The major biological function of the sperm cell is to transmit the paternal genetic and epigenetic information to the embryo as well as the following offspring. Sperm has a unique epigenome. An increasing body of epidemiological study supports that paternal stress induced by environmental exposures and lifestyle can modulate the sperm epigenome (including histone modification, DNA methylation, and noncoding RNA expression), sperm-egg fusion, embryo development, and offspring health. Based on the existing literature, we have summarized the paternal exposure on sperm epigenome along with the representative phenotypes of offspring and the possible mechanism involved.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors report no disclosures.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The genetic information of the sperm changes after stress. Under stress, histone H3K27me3 modification, DNA methylation, and RNA maturation were affected in the F0 sperm cells. Some of these modifications can “continue” in the zygote and “inherit” this “marker” to the male F1.
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