Cited by 468RNA modifications and cancerEpigenetics and DNA MethylationSperm and Testicular Function

Dnmt2 mediates intergenerational transmission of paternally acquired metabolic disorders through sperm small non-coding RNAs

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Zhang, Yunfang, Zhang, Xudong, Shi, Junchao, Tuorto, Francesca, Li, Xin, Liu, Yusheng, Liebers, Reinhard, Zhang, Liwen +23 more·2018·Nature Cell Biology

Abstract

The discovery of RNAs (for example, messenger RNAs, non-coding RNAs) in sperm has opened the possibility that sperm may function by delivering additional paternal information aside from solely providing the DNA 1 . Increasing evidence now suggests that sperm small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) can mediate intergenerational transmission of paternally acquired phenotypes, including mental stress 2,3 and metabolic disorders 4-6. How sperm sncRNAs encode paternal information remains unclear, but the mechanism may involve RNA modifications. Here we show that deletion of a mouse tRNA methyltransferase, DNMT2, abolished sperm sncRNA-mediated transmission of high-fat-diet-induced metabolic disorders to offspring. Dnmt2 deletion prevented the elevation of RNA modifications (m 5 C, m 2 G) in sperm 30-40 nt RNA fractions that are induced by a high-fat diet. Also, Dnmt2 deletion altered the sperm small RNA expression profile, including levels of tRNA-derived small RNAs and rRNA-derived small RNAs, which might be essential in composing a sperm RNA 'coding signature' that is needed for paternal epigenetic memory. Finally, we show that Dnmt2-mediated m 5 C contributes to the secondary structure and biological properties of sncRNAs, implicating sperm RNA modifications as an additional layer of paternal hereditary information.

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  • Sperm-derived mtRNA can respond to environmental cues and affect subsequent offspring development and health trajectories.

    “it has since been discovered that sperm‐derived mtRNA can respond to environmental cues and affect subsequent offspring development and health trajectories [34, 35, 36, 37].”

    From Ignoring the planet: A critical blind spot for research on ageing (2025) · cites this paper as [36]

    The Main text reports that a paternal high-fat diet changes sperm small-RNA profiles and that sperm RNA can transmit metabolic effects to mouse offspring. It discusses tRNA-derived small RNAs and other small non-coding RNAs, but does not identify the responsible RNA as mitochondrial RNA (mtRNA). (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Authors
Zhang, Y., Zhang, X., Shi, J., Tuorto, F., Li, X., Liu, Y., Liebers, R., Zhang, L., Qu, Y., Qian, J., Pahima, M., Liu, Y., Yan, M., Cao, Z., Lei, X., Cao, Y., Peng, H., Liu, S., Wang, Y., Zheng, H., Woolsey, R., Quilici, D., Zhai, Q., Li, L., Zhou, T., Yan, W., Lyko, F., Zhang, Y., Zhou, Q., Duan, E., & Chen, Q.
Affiliations
  • University of Nevada, Reno (US)
  • German Cancer Research Center (DE)
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
  • Shandong University of Technology (CN)
Corresponding author
  • Zhang, Ying
  • Zhou, Qi
  • Duan, Enkui
  • Chen, Qi
Venue
Nature Cell Biology
Published
2018-04-25
Volume
20
Issue
5
Pages
535-540
ISSN
  • 1465-7392 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4679
OpenAlex
W2802402149
Cited by
468
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 43 · 2025: 59 · 2024: 50 · 2023: 67 · 2022: 68 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 62 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 22
FWCI
16.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Cell Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (P30GM110767, P20GM103440)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD060858, R01HD085506, R01HD092431)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA modifications and cancer
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Sperm and Testicular Function
Keywords
DNMT2, intergenerational transmission, tRNA-derived small RNAs, rRNA-derived small RNAs, RNA methylation, 5-methylcytosine, high-fat diet, sperm epigenome
MeSH terms
Paternal Inheritance, Animals, Blood Glucose, DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases, Insulin, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Nucleic Acid Conformation, Phenotype, Spermatozoa, Structure-Activity Relationship, Biomarkers, Mice, Knockout, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Heredity, NIH 3T3 Cells, Epigenesis, Genetic, Glucose Metabolism Disorders, Mice, RNA, Small Untranslated, Diet, High-Fat, Transcriptome, Gene-Environment Interaction

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