Epigenetic intergenerational inheritance patterns and spermatozoal small noncoding RNAs

Abstract

<p indent=0mm>Studies have shown that paternal obesity and mental stress does not only impair them but also affect the health of their offspring. This special genetic phenomenon is independent of changes in DNA sequences. Therefore, potential mechanisms, including DNA methylation, histone modification, and sperm small noncoding RNA (sncRNA) regulation, have been observed. Among these mechanisms, paternal postnatal environmental exposures lead to changes in sperm sncRNA profiles, which potentially regulate early embryonic abnormalities and mediate intergenerational inheritance. This finding is the focus of researchers presently. However, there are some obstacles. First, questions arise on how environmental exposures affect sperm sncRNAs profiles, i.e., the source of sncRNAs; second, the mechanism of how the sperm sncRNAs are transferred to oocytes and influence early embryonic development remain poorly understood; and lastly, how such low concentration of sncRNAs in a single sperm biologically influences the determination of phenotypes of an offspring is yet to be validated. Therefore, this review will systematically demonstrate the research value of sncRNAs in sperm during intergenerational inheritance processes to provide a reference for studies on the paternal intergenerational inheritance of metabolic diseases and mental illnesses.