母体缺氧暴露会扰乱雄性子代成年后精子印记基因的甲基化,并导致其后代胎盘功能受损
Hypobaric hypoxia encountered at high altitudes impairs reproductive health and fertility across species. Previous findings have demonstrated that maternal hypoxia exposure disrupts granulosa cell (GC) viability and oocyte maturation in female offspring; however, its transgenerational impact on male reproductive outcomes remains poorly elucidated. In this study, pregnant mice (F0) were subjected to hypoxic conditions, and male progeny across four generations (F1‒F4) were evaluated. Results revealed that maternal hypoxia induced mild alterations in sperm DNA methylation in F1 males but caused profound developmental defects in F2 embryos, predominantly affecting males. Following mating of F1 males with control females, a substantial proportion of male F2 fetuses were lost at embryonic day (E) 13.5, attributed to placental malformations. Integrated RNA sequencing and whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of placentas from male fetuses revealed aberrant expression of imprinted genes, including <i>Gnas</i>, <i>Slc38a4</i>, <i>Jade1</i>, and <i>Kcnq1</i>, which also exhibited differential methylation in F1 sperm. These findings demonstrate that maternal hypoxia disrupts epigenetic programming in F1 germ cells, impairing placental development and fetal viability in F2 males, thereby leading to an unbalanced sex ratio. Overall, this study elucidates the mechanisms by which environmental hypoxia influences sex ratios and offers critical insights into hypoxia-induced reproductive impairments in mammals.
Authors
- Gongxue Jia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0810-3210)
- Yuwen Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5792-2730)
- Luyao Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9408-9496)
Institutions
- Qinghai University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (CN)
- Beijing Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- China Agricultural University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- 动物学研究
- Published
- 2025-01-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2025.031
- Primary Topic
- Birth, Development, and Health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00