Epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of metabolic, reproductive, and endocrine phenotypes through the male germline: effects of developmental bisphenol A and dexamethasone exposure (360G-Wellcome-211177_Z_18_Z)

The majority of heredity is accounted for by transmission of genetic material from one generation to another. However, in recent years evidence has accrued that some environmental factors can cause variations in phenotype that are inherited through the germline without changes in DNA sequence – so-called environmental epigenetic transgenerational inheritance. We are interested in how metabolic/reproductive/endocrine effects of developmental exposure to two exogenous endocrine insults – bisphenol A, an endocrine disrupting chemical that leaches from plastics and thermal paper, and dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid administered to pregnant women at risk of preterm delivery – may be transmitted inter/transgenerationally through the male germline. We will expose mice to human-equivalent doses of these chemicals and breed for three generations to obtain both phenotypic data and spermatozoa for epigenetic analyses (using RNA-seq, RRBS, and ATAC-seq). We will investigate the functional significance of any spermatozoal epigenetic changes detected; for example, using zygote pronuclear microinjection to determine the role of spermatozoal non-coding RNAs. The ubiquity of human exposure to these chemicals means that even small inter/transgenerational epigenetic effects would have significant implications at the level of public health; we therefore expect this work to be of interest to the wider scientific and medical community.