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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Preconceptual paternal environmental stimulation alters behavioural phenotypes and adaptive responses intergenerationally in Swiss mice

Full text
Author(s):
Hoffmann, Lucas B. [1] ; Rae, Mariana [1] ; Marianno, Priscila [1] ; Pang, Terence Y. [2, 3] ; Hannan, Anthony J. [2, 3] ; Camarini, Rosana [1]
Total Authors: 6
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Pharmacol, Inst Biomed Sci, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil
[2] Univ Melbourne, Melbourne Brain Ctr, Florey Inst Neurosci & Mental Hlth, Behav Neurosci Div, Parkville, Vic - Australia
[3] Univ Melbourne, Dept Anat & Neurosci, Parkville, Vic - Australia
Total Affiliations: 3
Document type: Journal article
Source: Physiology & Behavior; v. 223, SEP 1 2020.
Web of Science Citations: 0
Abstract

Experimental research has recently revealed that paternal environmental conditions can influence the offspring phenotype through epigenetic mechanisms. However, it is unclear whether these effects impact adaptive responses in the offspring. Environmental enrichment (EE) is a well-established paradigm that promotes neural plasticity. We investigated whether EE in male mice could modify behaviours that are highly relevant for determining adaptive fitness, i.e. spatial memory, attractiveness and social dominance, in the offspring of outbred mice. Male Swiss mice were housed in either EE or standard housing from post-weaning to adulthood before breeding for offspring. Their offspring were raised in standard housing until adulthood then assessed for behavioural, physiological and molecular parameters. F-0 male mice exposed to EE had lower body weight, higher adrenal, spleen and hippocampal weights, better novelty processing and spatial learning, greater hippocampal BDNF levels, and higher social dominance. Unexpectedly, their male offspring (F-1) showed spatial memory impairment, lowered social dominance and were less attractive to receptive females, compared to controls. These ethologically relevant measures suggest a maladaptive response in the male F-1 offspring. Interestingly, when separate cohorts of male F-1 offspring of standard housing or EE fathers were exposed to 8-day EE protocol during adulthood, differences in spatial memory and attractiveness to receptive females were no longer observed between them. These results provide evidence that the paternal environment can influence the offspring's adaptiveness. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 18/05038-0 - Effect of environmental enrichment on resilience to chronic unpredictable stress: epigenetic regulation of the BDNF gene and consequences on ethanol consumption
Grantee:Rosana Camarini
Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
FAPESP's process: 17/11987-1 - Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance and environmental enrichment in male mice: investigation of hippocampus-dependent behaviors in the offspring and the involvement of epididymosomes
Grantee:Lucas Barbosa Hoffmann
Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
FAPESP's process: 15/02397-0 - Study of environmental enrichment inducing a protective phenotype of behaviors that assess addictive features in mice
Grantee:Rosana Camarini
Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants