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16 July 2021 DNA methylome perturbations: an epigenetic basis for the emergingly heritable neurodevelopmental abnormalities associated with maternal smoking and maternal nicotine exposure
Jordan M. Buck, Li Yu, Valerie S. Knopik, Jerry A. Stitzel
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Abstract

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with an ensemble of neurodevelopmental consequences in children and therefore constitutes a pressing public health concern. Adding to this burden, contemporary epidemiological and especially animal model research suggests that grandmaternal smoking is similarly associated with neurodevelopmental abnormalities in grandchildren, indicative of intergenerational transmission of the neurodevelopmental impacts of maternal smoking. Probing the mechanistic bases of neurodevelopmental anomalies in the children of maternal smokers and the intergenerational transmission thereof, emerging research intimates that epigenetic changes, namely DNA methylome perturbations, are key factors. Altogether, these findings warrant future research to fully elucidate the etiology of neurodevelopmental impairments in the children and grandchildren of maternal smokers and underscore the clear potential thereof to benefit public health by informing the development and implementation of preventative measures, prophylactics, and treatments. To this end, the present review aims to encapsulate the burgeoning evidence linking maternal smoking to intergenerational epigenetic inheritance of neurodevelopmental abnormalities, to identify the strengths and weaknesses thereof, and to highlight areas of emphasis for future human and animal model research therein.

Summary sentence

Evidence from human and animal model research indicates that maternal smoking confers a constellation of neurodevelopmental anomalies which appear to undergo intergenerational transmission via a putative epigenetic mechanism.

© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Society for the Study of Reproduction. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com
Jordan M. Buck, Li Yu, Valerie S. Knopik, and Jerry A. Stitzel "DNA methylome perturbations: an epigenetic basis for the emergingly heritable neurodevelopmental abnormalities associated with maternal smoking and maternal nicotine exposure," Biology of Reproduction 105(3), 644-666, (16 July 2021). https://doi.org/10.1093/biolre/ioab138
Received: 1 March 2021; Accepted: 14 July 2021; Published: 16 July 2021
KEYWORDS
children
DNA methylation
epigenetics
grandchildren
heritable
intergenerational
Maternal smoking
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