Fetal programming and epigenetics

Developmental programming and epigenetics.

The ways in which epigenetic modifications fix the effects of early environmental events, ensuring sustained responses to transient stimuli that result in modified gene expression patterns and phenotypes later in life, are a topic of considerable interest. This article focuses on recently discovered mechanisms and calls into question prevailing views about the dynamics, positions, and functions...

The consequences of epigenetics and fetal programming for English beef and sheep producers

Epigenetics and Fetal Metabolic Programming: A Call for Integrated Research on Larger Cohorts

Fetal metabolic programming is a concept first suggested by Barker and Hales (1,2) in the early 1990s. On the basis of compelling epidemiological evidence, they hypothesized that fetal and perinatal events, such as maternal undernutrition, were central to determine one’s risk to develop chronic metabolic diseases. Such conditions, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, have b...

Glucocorticoids and fetal programming.

Glucocorticoids Glucocorticoid hormones (cortisol in humans and most mammals, corticosterone in rats, mice and most lower vertebrates) are produced by the adrenal glands, predominantly under the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Receptors for glucocorticoids are members of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily and, when activated by their hormone ligands, regulate ...

Epigenetics—Potential for Programming Fish for Aquaculture?

Epigenetic marks affecting the expression of genes are triggered by environmental stimuli, can persist throughout life or across multiple generations and can affect an individuals phenotype. In recent years there has been a revival of interest about the possible role of epigenetics in affecting complex or quantitative traits. This growing interest is partly driven by the increasing affordabilit...