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Genomic Imprinting and Inheritance02:30

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Diploid organisms inherit genetic material through chromosomes from both parents. Copies of the same gene are known as alleles. In most cases, both alleles are simultaneously expressed and allow various cellular processes to function optimally. If one of the alleles is missing or mutated, the expression of the other allele can compensate; however, this is not true for all genes.
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Assessing Teratogenic Changes in a Zebrafish Model of Fetal Alcohol Exposure
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Pre-implantation alcohol exposure induces lasting sex-specific DNA methylation programming errors in the developing

L M Legault1,2, K Doiron1, M Breton-Larrivée1,2

  • 1CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, 3175 Chemin de La Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, QC, H3T 1C5, Canada.

Clinical Epigenetics
|August 24, 2021
PubMed
Summary

Early alcohol exposure before implantation can cause brain defects and alter DNA methylation, contributing to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in offspring.

Keywords:
DNA methylationEarly embryonic developmentEpigenetic reprogrammingFetal alcohol spectrum disorderImprintingPrenatal exposure

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Biology
  • Epigenetics

Background:

  • Prenatal alcohol exposure impacts brain DNA methylation, contributing to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
  • Limited data exists on alcohol's effects during pre-implantation, a critical period of DNA methylation reprogramming.
  • Understanding early exposure effects is crucial for deciphering brain developmental rewiring.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of pre-implantation alcohol exposure on brain development.
  • To identify epigenetic alterations, specifically DNA methylation changes, following early alcohol exposure.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a pre-clinical in vivo mouse model.
  • Administered binge-like alcohol exposure during the pre-implantation (8-cell) stage.
  • Performed genome-wide DNA methylation analyses on fetal forebrains.

Main Results:

  • Pre-implantation alcohol exposure resulted in significant morphological brain defects and adverse fetal developmental outcomes.
  • Sex-specific alterations in DNA methylation were observed in fetal brains.
  • Identified partial loss of DNA methylation maintenance at imprinting control regions and abnormal de novo methylation profiles in neural development pathways.

Conclusions:

  • Alcohol-induced DNA methylation changes during pre-implantation can disrupt normal brain development.
  • These epigenetic alterations may underlie neurodevelopmental issues observed in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
  • Highlights the vulnerability of early embryonic stages to alcohol teratogenicity.