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[SANET-MG] we are what mother ate
The article below shows a powerful new insight into the fetus.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Nov 14;103(46):17308-17312. Epub 2006 Nov
13.
Germ-line epigenetic modification of the murine Avy allele by
nutritional supplementation.Cropley JE, Suter CM, Beckman KB, Martin DI.
*Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, 384 Victoria Street,
Darlinghurst 2010, Sydney, Australia.
Environmental effects on phenotype can be mediated by epigenetic
modifications. The epigenetic state of the murine A(vy) allele is highly
variable, and determines phenotypic effects that vary in a mosaic
spectrum that can be shifted by in utero exposure to methyl donor
supplementation. We have asked if methyl donor supplementation affects
the germ-line epigenetic state of the A(vy) allele. We find that the
somatic epigenetic state of A(vy) is affected by in utero methyl donor
supplementation only when the allele is paternally contributed. Exposure
to methyl donor supplementation during midgestation shifts A(vy)
phenotypes not only in the mice exposed as fetuses, but in their
offspring. This finding indicates that methyl donors can change the
epigenetic state of the A(vy) allele in the germ line, and that the
altered state is retained through the epigenetic resetting that takes
place in gametogenesis and embryogenesis. Thus a mother's diet may have
an enduring influence on succeeding generations, independent of later
changes in diet. Although other reports have suggested such heritable
epigenetic changes, this study demonstrates that a specific mammalian
gene can be subjected to germ-line epigenetic change.
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