Intermittent hypoxia promotes functional neuroprotection from retinal ischemia in untreated first-generation offspring

Abstract

Environmental stimuli can promote short-or long-lasting changes in phenotype through epigenetics. Under certain circumstances, induced phenotypes can be passed through the germline to subsequent generations, providing a novel mechanistic basis for disease heritability. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that repetitively exposing parents to a nonharmful epigenetic stimulus can promote disease resilience in offspring. Male and female mice were mated following brief exposures to mild systemic hypoxia every other day for 16 weeks. Electroretinographic determinations of postischemic function in response to transient unilateral retinal ischemia in their 5month-old F1 progeny revealed significant resilience to injury relative to animals derived from normoxic control parents. Mass spectrometry identified hundreds of differentially expressed proteins between protected and injured retinae; bioinformatic analyses of the pathways and networks these proteins comprise provided specific mechanistic insights into the molecular manifestation of this injury-resilient phenotype. Thus, epigenetics can modify heritability to promote disease resilience.

Low herbicide doses can change the responses of weeds to subsequent treatments in the next generation: metamitron exposed PSII‐target‐site resistant Chenopodium album as a case study

“…Results proved reproducible within two independent experiments and the observed transgenerational changes were sensitive to the priming dose level. The importance of the conditioning dose or generally the stressor exposure scenario for the outcome of conditioning is known . In this study, subhormetic and toxic parental conditioning increased offspring sensitivity and prevented hormesis formation.…”

“…), hormesis may provide herbicide‐resistant plants with an additional selection advantage. Under a repeated, multigenerational exposure there may also be a risk of a subtle potentiation of effects or prolongation of resilient states . Moreover, hormesis‐induced adaptions are assumed by some to be long lasting or even irreversible .…”