Epigenetic changes of male germ line cells affecting behavior of offspring in mice

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K12764
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Basic / Social brain science
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: OSUMI Noriko 東北大学, 医学系研究科, 教授 (00220343)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 加齢精子 / エピゲノム変化 / DNAメチル化 / ターゲットメチローム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Young or aged sperm cells of Pax6 mutant heterozygous (Sey) mice were fertilized in vitro with young wild type (WT) female eggs to obtain offspring. Comprehensive behavior analyses showed different phenotypes in Sey offspring derived from young or aged sperm compared with WT littermates. DNA methylome analyses on the whole genome of sperm obtained from young or aged WT revealed differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in the aged sperm. These DMRs were enriched with GO terms involved in neuronal functions and neurons, suggesting that paternal aging may cause neurodevelopmental disorders via establishing the DMRs.

Free Research Field

神経発生学