loading
loading
NIH grant 1R01HD117823-01A1: Dietary signaling in male reproductive tissues
Institute: {'code': 'HD', 'abbreviation': 'NICHD', 'name': 'Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development', 'admin_org_id': '12500030', 'admin_funding_url': ''}. PI: OLIVER J RANDO. Award: $716119.
Start: 2026-07-25T00:00:00.
Project Summary/Abstract
Although inheritance of DNA sequence underpins the majority of heritability in
biology, additional information beyond the genome – known as epigenetic
information – is also transmitted to the next generation, with important
implications for health and development. Over the past two decades, we have
shown that paternal environmental conditions can reproducibly influence multiple
phenotypes in the next generation. We and others are now leveraging these
systems to explore the mechanistic basis by which environmental conditions
program health and disease in future generations. Proposed mechanisms for
paternal dietary effects include both changes to the sperm epigenome, as well as
seminal fluid components.
Here, we propose firstly to explore the effects of several dietary exposures
on cell composition and gene regulation in three major male reproductive tissues
– testis, epididymis, and seminal vesicle. Second, we will investigate the cells of
origin for seminal fluid signaling proteins and small molecules, and will identify
dietary effects on seminal fluid composition. Finally, we will employ a suite of
novel epigenomics assays to characterize dietary effects on the sperm
epigenome.
Together, these studies will provide unprecedented insights into dietary
sensing in reproductive tissues, and into regulation of epigenetic marks in
mammalian sperm. These systematic analyses of epigenetic signals in sperm will
not only reveal new principles of biological inheritance, but will also enable us to
predict and potentially manipulate offspring phenotypes to promote health.document fetched 2026-08-02 08:24