Heritable Generational Epigenetic Effects through RNA

Author(s):  
Nicole C. Riddle
Keyword(s):  
Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 2954
Author(s):  
Justyna Gorzkiewicz ◽  
Grzegorz Bartosz ◽  
Izabela Sadowska-Bartosz

Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring non-steroidal phenolic plant compounds. Their structure is similar to 17-β-estradiol, the main female sex hormone. This review offers a concise summary of the current literature on several potential health benefits of phytoestrogens, mainly their neuroprotective effect. Phytoestrogens lower the risk of menopausal symptoms and osteoporosis, as well as cardiovascular disease. They also reduce the risk of brain disease. The effects of phytoestrogens and their derivatives on cancer are mainly due to the inhibition of estrogen synthesis and metabolism, leading to antiangiogenic, antimetastatic, and epigenetic effects. The brain controls the secretion of estrogen (hypothalamus-pituitary-gonads axis). However, it has not been unequivocally established whether estrogen therapy has a neuroprotective effect on brain function. The neuroprotective effects of phytoestrogens seem to be related to both their antioxidant properties and interaction with the estrogen receptor. The possible effects of phytoestrogens on the thyroid cause some concern; nevertheless, generally, no serious side effects have been reported, and these compounds can be recommended as health-promoting food components or supplements.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Trejo Banos ◽  
Daniel L. McCartney ◽  
Marion Patxot ◽  
Lucas Anchieri ◽  
Thomas Battram ◽  
...  

Abstract Linking epigenetic marks to clinical outcomes improves insight into molecular processes, disease prediction, and therapeutic target identification. Here, a statistical approach is presented to infer the epigenetic architecture of complex disease, determine the variation captured by epigenetic effects, and estimate phenotype-epigenetic probe associations jointly. Implicitly adjusting for probe correlations, data structure (cell-count or relatedness), and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker effects, improves association estimates and in 9,448 individuals, 75.7% (95% CI 71.70–79.3) of body mass index (BMI) variation and 45.6% (95% CI 37.3–51.9) of cigarette consumption variation was captured by whole blood methylation array data. Pathway-linked probes of blood cholesterol, lipid transport and sterol metabolism for BMI, and xenobiotic stimuli response for smoking, showed >1.5 times larger associations with >95% posterior inclusion probability. Prediction accuracy improved by 28.7% for BMI and 10.2% for smoking over a LASSO model, with age-, and tissue-specificity, implying associations are a phenotypic consequence rather than causal.


Epigenomics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia M Sirchia ◽  
Alice Faversani ◽  
Davide Rovina ◽  
Maria V Russo ◽  
Leda Paganini ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 480-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Mirhosseini ◽  
J.P. Michaud ◽  
M.A. Jalali ◽  
M. Ziaaddini

AbstractComponents of male seminal fluids are known to stimulate fecundity and fertility in females of numerous insect species and paternal effects on offspring phenotype are also known, but no studies have yet demonstrated links between male effects on female reproduction and those on progeny phenotype. In separate laboratory experiments employing 10-day-old virgin females ofCheilomenes sexmaculata(F.), we varied male age and mating history to manipulate levels of male allomones and found that the magnitude of paternal effects on progeny phenotype was correlated with stimulation of female reproduction. Older virgin males remained in copula longer than younger ones, induced higher levels of female fecundity, and sired progeny that developed faster to yield heavier adults. When male age was held constant (13 days), egg fertility declined as a function of previous male copulations, progeny developmental times increased, and the adult weight of daughters declined. These results suggest that male epigenetic effects on progeny phenotype act in concert with female reproductive stimulation; both categories of effects increased as a consequence of male celibacy (factor accumulation), and diminished as a function of previous matings (factor depletion). Male factors that influence female reproduction are implicated in sexual conflict and parental effects may extend this conflict to offspring phenotype. Whereas mothers control the timing of oviposition events and can use maternal effects to tailor progeny phenotypes to prevailing or anticipated conditions, fathers cannot. Since females remate and dilute paternity in polyandrous systems, paternal fitness will be increased by linking paternal effects to female fecundity stimulation, so that more benefits accrue to the male's own progeny.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleftheria Hatzimichael ◽  
Tim Crook

Cancer is nowadays considered to be both a genetic and an epigenetic disease. The most well studied epigenetic modification in humans is DNA methylation; however it becomes increasingly acknowledged that DNA methylation does not work alone, but rather is linked to other modifications, such as histone modifications. Epigenetic abnormalities are reversible and as a result novel therapies that work by reversing epigenetic effects are being increasingly explored. The biggest clinical impact of epigenetic modifying agents in neoplastic disorders thus far has been in haematological malignancies, and the efficacy of DNMT inhibitors and HDAC inhibitors in blood cancers clearly attests to the principle that therapeutic modification of the cancer cell epigenome can produce clinical benefit. This paper will discuss the most well studied epigenetic modifications and how these are linked to cancer, will give a brief overview of the clinical use of epigenetics as biomarkers, and will focus in more detail on epigenetic drugs and their use in solid and blood cancers.


2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Ouanes-Ben Othmen ◽  
S. Essefi ◽  
H. Bacha

It has been suggested that zearalenone, a non-steroidal estrogenic mycotoxin produced by Fusarium graminearium, causes DNA damage. However, the mutagenic properties of this toxin are controversial. The purpose of this study was to investigate both genotoxic and epigenetic effects of zearalenone in vitro. The effects of zearalenone on unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS), induction of chromosome aberrations and inhibition of gap junctional intercellular communication were determined using Vero cells. The results show that in Vero cells, zearalenone treatment caused a concentration-dependent increase in UDS, induced chromosome aberrations and inhibited gap junctional intercellular communication. All of these effects were either prevented or reduced by co-treatment with the antioxidant vitamin E. The results support the hypothesis that in Vero cells zearalenone-induced oxidative stress is involved in and precedes all of the studied effects.


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