Mechanism of inheritance of influence of stress received by parents to children is clarified

ByDNA Art Online

The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) found that a change in expression of a gene caused by stress discovered a new mechanism inherited by a child from a parent without a change in DNA sequence.

Whether a gene expression change caused by stress is inherited without a DNA sequence change is related to diseases and evolution and it is said that it is an important theme of genetics. As an example of such phenomenon, There is inheritance of corn pigment change due to temperature and sunshine time, but the mechanism seems to remain unknown.

Even in animals, there are reports suggesting that children are inherited by environmental stresses and nutritional conditions, but since the mechanism has not been elucidated, it seems that the situation is not widely accepted yet.

Genetic inheritance to children without change in DNA sequence | 2011 Press Release | RIKEN

According to the RIKEN press release, Drosophila seems to be transcribed vigorously and become a red eye, which synthesizes the red pigment of the eye. However, in the fly line where the white gene is present in the heterochromatin * region, transcription of this gene is suppressed and it becomes white eye. In this strain, when the heterochromatin structure relaxes, the transcription of the white gene is induced and it turns into a red eye, so you can investigate the state of heterochromatin by examining the amount of red pigment in the eye.

The research group discovered that when the mutation of the gene of the transcription factor dATF-2 * is introduced into this white line strain, the eye becomes red, the heterochromatin structure relaxes, and histone methylation decreases . These results indicate that dATF-2 binds to an enzyme that methylates histones, methylates histones to form a heterochromatin structure and inhibits transcription.

*: Heterochromatin: In the form of condensed chromatin, the state where transcription does not occur is maintained.
※: Transcription Factor ATF-2: It is a transcription factor discovered by Ishii Molecular Genetics Laboratory, and binds to a specific DNA sequence called TGACGTCA. It is directly phosphorylated and activated by phosphorylating enzymes such as p38 activated by environmental stress such as heat shock stress and endogenous stress such as inflammatory cytokine. When referring to Drosophila ATF-2, it is written as "dATF-2".

Therefore, the research group investigated how heat shock stress and osmotic stress, which phosphorylates dATF-2 and activates its function as a transcription factor, affects the heterochromatic structure of wild-type Drosophila Of dATF-2 is released from heterochromatin, the heterochromatin structure relaxes, induced suppressed transcription is induced, and it is known that the condition is inherited to children It was.


When only the parent's generation is subjected to heat shock stress, its influence is inherited only to the child, not to the grandchildren, but when it receives heat shock stress for two generations, the influence is not only for children but also for grandchildren It also proved to be transmitted. this is,If you get stressed for generations, the influence will be inherited to generations even after the stress gets lostRespectively.


Previous studies have shown that ATF-2 and its similar transcription factors regulate genes involved in carcinogenesis in addition to metabolic, immune, and cranial nervous systems. The research group has reported that the mouse ATF-2-like transcription factor ATF-7 inhibits expression of the serotonin receptor 5 b gene in a heterochromatin-like structure in the brain and that only one mouse is raised Then, when social separation stress is given, it reports that ATF - 7 is phosphorylated, the expression of 5 - Htr 5 b gene rises, and behavior abnormality such as depression is exhibited.

In the future we will analyze whether changes in the expression of these genes due to metabolic stress, infection stress, psychic stress etc. are inherited in the next generation and affect the onset of diseases such as lifestyle diseases, immunity, psychiatric disorders, cancer It is said that it will go.


The fact that the influence of stress is inherited without changing the shape of a gene is scientifically clarified that the influence such as abuse is inherited by parental inherited influences being inherited by children, It may become it. From now on, research on various kinds of stress can be advanced, and the results of future research will be awaited.