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Hereditas(Beijing) ›› 2022, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (2): 107-116.doi: 10.16288/j.yczz.21-302

• Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Alteration of imprinted genes and offspring organ development caused by environmental factors

Hui Qu1(), Yi Liu1, Yawen Chen1, Hui Wang1,2()   

  1. 1. Department of Pharmacology, Basic Medical School of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China
    2. Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Developmentally Originated Diseases, Wuhan 430071, China
  • Received:2021-10-01 Revised:2021-12-21 Online:2022-02-20 Published:2021-12-22
  • Contact: Wang Hui E-mail:1937211743@qq.com;wanghui19@whu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Supported by the Key Project of National Key R&D Program of China No(2020YFA0803900)

Abstract:

Imprinted genes are a special subset of about 100 genes, which are mainly expressed in the form of parental monoallelic genes, and play important roles in the growth and development of embryos. In recent years, it has been found that epigenetic modification of imprinted genes induced by environmental factors can cause fetal multi-organ dysplasia and even susceptibility to multiple diseases in adulthood, which also exhibit multi-generational inheritance. In this review, we summarize the effects of expression changes of imprinted genes on ontogenetic development and organ functions in late stage of life, and propose that abnormal epigenetic modification and expression of imprinted genes caused by environmental deleterious factors are important mechanisms for explaining the multi-organ dysplasia in offspring. Such mechanisms are greatly significant for understanding the phenotypic changes caused by alteration of imprinted gene expression during ontogeny and exploring early prevention and treatment strategies of diseases.

Key words: imprinted genes, environmental factors, regulatory mechanisms of imprinted genes, epigenetic modification, organ development