Le responsabilità dei padri: oltre il gene!

It is customary to think that fathers participate in the fertilization of the egg by releasing only the genetic DNA contained in the head of the sperm. The fertilized oocyte then expels the mitochondria of paternal origin, giving only to the mother the transmission of the mitochondrial DNA.It has now been discovered that, in addition to the DNA of the sperm nucleus, fathers transmit to the oocyte both non-nuclear cellular components and molecules from the seminal plasma, which do not have a function in Mendelian inheritance but regulate the gene expression of the offspring with epigenetic mechanisms. Small fragments of non-protein coding RNA of paternal mitochondrial origin are capable of influencing both the course of pregnancy and the health of the offspring. In murine models, mice fed with excess cholesterol can transmit atherogenic factors into adulthood in female offspring, similarly mice subjected to alterations in the circadian rhythm transmit the activation of atherogenic genes to their offspring which compromise their health and development. Non Genetic paternal obesity with high-fat diets is an important factor for obesity and cardiovascular risk in offspring, both in mice and in humans. If the diet is corrected with balanced choices, fathers do not cause any damage to the development of their offspring. Fathers therefore do not only transmit genes, but complex epigenetic mechanisms, modified by their own behavior, which influence the development and health risks of their offspring.