Transgenerational Inheritance of Mammalian Acquired Characteristics via Spermatozoal RNAs

With the rapid development of epigenetics, there has been increasing concern with Lamarck's theory of evolution which shed light on the inheritance of acquired characteristics. In recent years, transgenerational inheritance of mammalian acquired characteristics has also been investigated in detail. Epigenetic information, induced by environmental stresses, is transmitted through the germline during transgenerational inheritance of mammalian acquired characteristics. Spermatozoal sncRNAs play a key role in the establishment of epigenetic information which is associated with environmental stresses and function during transmission of epigenetic information. The environmental stresses related epigenetic information, embodied in sncRNAs, is stored in the mature spermatozoa. Subsequently, spermatozoal sncRNAs is involved in epigenetic modification in primordial germ cells after fertilization. Then these epigenetic modifications can be transmitted between generations, thereby affecting the expression of genes which are associated with acquired characteristics. In this paper, we review the mechanism through which spermatozoal sncRNAs participate in transgenerational inheritance of mammalian acquired characteristics, providing new ideas to investigate hereditary metabolic diseases or to promote human reproductive health and livestock breeding.