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Epigenetics in Sperm, Epigenetic Diagnostics, and Transgenerational Inheritance
Published in Carlos Simón, Carmen Rubio, Handbook of Genetic Diagnostic Technologies in Reproductive Medicine, 2022
Jennifer L. M. Thorson, Millissia Ben Maamar, Michael K. Skinner
The environment has been shown to be one of the most critical factors to impact the biology of an organism. An exposure to one or multiple environmental factors (e.g., nutrition, toxicants, stress) can trigger changes in the transcriptome and impact the development of pathologies or phenotypic variation. As described above, epigenetic factors are the molecular mechanisms an organism uses to respond to an environmental change with modifications in gene expression. Most environmental factors and toxicants do not possess the capacity to alter DNA sequence or promote genetic mutations (67). However, the environment is able to dramatically influence epigenetic processes which then affect gene expression and development. In human and animal models, several studies have demonstrated that exposure to certain environmental toxicants at a specific window of development, especially when the epigenome is reprogramming, can affect the mechanisms involved in the establishment of the sperm epigenome. Since the sperm epigenome has been shown to be crucial for the fertility of the individuals, any variations could be related to male infertility (68). Some epimutations have also been shown to be transmitted via the sperm to the offspring and subsequent generations which has been defined as the concept of epigenetic transgenerational inheritance (4,6,69). Therefore, epigenetics provides a molecular mechanism for the environment to directly alter the biology of an organism (70). The presence of an altered epigenetic factor at a specific chromosomal location in response to an environmental factor is called an “epimutation” (71).
Psychiatric Disorders in Women
Published in Michelle Tollefson, Nancy Eriksen, Neha Pathak, Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan, 2021
Gia Merlo, Hanjun Ryu, Ariyaneh Nikbin
Epigenetics refers to the processes and structures that regulate how DNA is packaged and transcribed within the cell. The epigenome, which consists of various chemical markers attached to genes and associated histone proteins, responds to intrinsic and extrinsic environmental factors, and causes differential expression or inactivation of genes. Therefore, the epigenome represents a mechanism by which certain pathologies may arise without the alteration of DNA itself. Growing evidence suggests that a wide variety of diseases are linked to epigenetic changes, including nearly all cancers, cognitive dysfunction, autoimmune disorders, and mental health disorders.36 It has also been found that unhealthy lifestyle behaviors may influence the onset and progression of many of these diseases through epigenetic mechanisms. On the other hand, healthy lifestyle behaviors have been shown to health-promoting gene expression through epigenetic regulation.37
The Future of Lifestyle Medicine
Published in James M. Rippe, Manual of Lifestyle Medicine, 2021
An emerging and intriguing science continues to evolve in the area of epigenetics. The study of epigenetics relates to how the end products of DNA, such as proteins, are impacted on in various ways based on lifestyle practices and habits. There are good data emerging that changes in the epigenetic profile of people contribute to the likelihood that they will develop disease. These are, in turn, significantly impacted by lifestyle habits and practices. It is important for lifestyle medicine clinicians to stay abreast of this emerging literature since it provides important biological roots for why many of the lifestyle medicine components are so powerful.
Epigenetic regulation in Alzheimer’s disease: is it a potential therapeutic target?
Published in Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets, 2021
Epigenetic therapy consists of the use of drugs or other epigenome-influencing techniques to alter gene expression levels and treat medical conditions, and primarily involves inhibitors of enzymes that catalyze DNA methylation and histone tail modifications for the treatment of human cancers [9]. However, epigenetic therapy is largely investigated in animal models, cell culture models, and clinical trials of other diseases than cancer, including neurodegenerative disorders [10]. This article examines the epigenetic modifications observed in AD tissues, and particularly the changes in DNA methylation and histone tail modifications, discussing their role as potential therapeutic targets. The relevant articles discussed in the manuscript have been retrieved through a PubMed search between 2003 and 2021, including the terms ‘Alzheimer’s disease’ and ‘DNA methylation’, ‘histone tail modifications’, ‘epigenetics’, ‘epigenome-wide’, ‘whole-methylation analysis’, ‘epigenetic drugs’, ‘S-adenosylmethionine’, ‘inhibitors of histone deacetylases’, ‘inhibitors of DNA methyltransferases’, ‘animal models’, ‘epigenetic therapy’.
Dioxin and endometriosis: a new possible relation based on epigenetic theory
Published in Gynecological Endocrinology, 2020
Pierluigi Giampaolino, Luigi Della Corte, Virginia Foreste, Fabio Barra, Simone Ferrero, Giuseppe Bifulco
Besides the well-known dioxin’s pathway of action, several papers are focusing on the role of epigenetic mechanisms, according to which xenobiotics are able of altering the biology of organs, tissues and cells [50,51]. Essentially, epigenetic mechanisms represent a way through which the genome responds to the environment, and the effect can lead to permanent changes in gene expression until affecting the phenotypes or cause disease. Nonetheless, the effects depend on a complex interaction between the individual genetic profile and epigenetic modulations [52,53]. The epigenetics effects are reversible and don’t involve alterations in the DNA sequence; the most common mechanisms are DNA methylation, histone modifications and ncRNAs that can affect transcript stability, DNA folding, nucleosome positioning, chromatin compaction, and nuclear organization with the final results of determining if a gene can be expressed or silenced [54–57]. Different mechanisms of AhR-dependent histone modification, DNA methylation, and ncRNAs regulation mechanisms have been described for dioxin. These new acknowledge seem to match with the new theory of the epigenetic pathogenesis of endometriosis. As Konickx et al. [21] reported in a recent article, the development of endometriosis lesions are linked to a series of additional transmissible genetic and epigenetic incidents that occurs in a cell, which may vary from endometrial to stem cells. The most common epigenetic change studies in endometriosis include DNA methylation, histone modification as well as RNA transcriptional changes.
Soy Isoflavone Supplementation Increases Long Interspersed Nucleotide Element-1 (LINE-1) Methylation in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2019
Laura S. Rozek, Shama Virani, Emily L. Bellile, Jeremy M. G. Taylor, Maureen A. Sartor, Katie R. Zarins, A. Virani, C. Cote, Francis P. Worden, Mark E. Prince Mark, Scott A. McLean, Sonya A. Duffy, George H. Yoo, Nabil F. Saba, Dong M. Shin, Omer Kucuk, Gregory T. Wolf
This study has several unique implications. First, our results indicate that meaningful epigenetic changes can be achieved after a short dietary intervention. Changes in the tumor tissue itself may be an early indicator of beneficial effects of a nutritional treatment intervention. However, our results should be interpreted with caution since this was a relatively small, albeit carefully performed, prospective clinical trial. Second, this is the first report of specific alterations in LINE-1 hypomethylation in response to soy isoflavone administration in HNSCC patients in vivo. The fact that a moderate dose soy intervention beneficially altered an important marker of global hypomethylation in a short time period suggests that sustained delivery could have greater clinical effects. This is particularly important for agents that may be prescribed for long term primary or secondary cancer prevention. These preliminary data suggest the need for a larger study that will carefully evaluate soy as a chemopreventive agent in HNSCC as well as consideration of other natural compounds for the epigenetic treatment of HNSCC.