| description |
Exposure to environmental factors during fetal development lead epigenome modifications in fetal germ cells to alter gene expression and promotes diseases in successive generations. Maternal exposure to Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a plasticizer widely used for the manufacturing of consumer products, induces defects in spermatogenesis in successive generations in mouse, but mechanisms of impaired spermatogenesis are unknown. In this study, we investigated changes of DNA methylation patterns of testicular germ cells in embryonic and adult stages after maternal exposure of DEHP. In the embryonic germ cells at E19.5, promoter of several genes involved in spermatogenesis were hypermethylated, and such hypermethylation were not detected in somatic cells at same stage. In addition, methylation levels of several spermatogenesis-related genes were continuously high in spermatogonia at adult stage. This result suggests that maternal DEHP exposure induce hypermethylation of spermatogenesis-related genes specifically in germ cells. |