Epigenetic effects of environmental thyroid disruption

我们父母的生活方式和经历可以改变我们自己的特点，甚至可以改变我们子孙的特点。我们继承了前几代人的DNA，但在生物体水平上表现出DNA核苷酸序列的适应性变化之前，需要许多代人的时间。通过在DNA中添加小的化学基团(例如，通过DNA甲基转移酶添加甲基基团)，可以更快地传递环境信息以塑造生物反应。因此，父母或在发育早期所经历的情况会改变个体的特征(表型)。这些“表观遗传”改变可能是有益的，因为父母可以让他们的后代为特定的条件做好准备，而个人可以对环境变化做出快速反应。然而，其中也隐藏着危险。如果环境信息是有害的呢？现在人类活动将有害的线索引入环境中。从化学污染到光系统变化和气候变化的各种干扰都可能扰乱表观遗传编程。内分泌(激素)干扰化合物(EDCs)的表观遗传效应刚刚被命名为最重要的新兴全球保护威胁之一。这些新颖的人类影响现在是全球和国内自然系统的永久组成部分--它们将继续存在。它们尤其存在于加拿大五大湖和北极地区，这些地区已经是气候变化的热点。因此，迫切需要了解他们是如何行动的，并预测他们将产生什么后果。这项拟议研究的目标是接受这一挑战，并确定人为干扰如何与自然驱动因素相互作用，从而影响表观遗传信号，从而影响动物功能。

Our parents' lifestyle and experiences can change our own characteristics and even those of our children and grandchildren. We inherit our DNA from previous generations, but it takes many generations before adaptive changes to the nucleotide sequence of DNA manifest at the organism level. A much more rapid transfer of environmental information to shape biological responses occurs by additions of small chemical groups to DNA (e.g., addition of methyl groups by DNA methyltransferase enzymes). Conditions experienced by parents or during early development can thereby alter the characteristics (phenotype) of individuals. These "epigenetic" modifications can be beneficial because parents can "prepare" their offspring for particular conditions, and individuals can respond rapidly to environmental changes. However, therein also lies danger. What if the environmental information is detrimental?Human activity now introduces detrimental cues into the environment. Disturbances ranging from chemical pollution to altered light regimes and climate change can disrupt epigenetic programming. The epigenetic effects of endocrine (hormone) disrupting compounds (EDCs) have just been named one of the most important emerging global conservation threats. These novel human impacts are now permanent components of global and domestic natural systems - they are here to stay. They are particularly present in the Canadian Great Lakes and Arctic regions, which already represent hotspots for climate change. There is therefore a great urgency to understand how they act, and to predict what their consequences will be. The GOAL of the proposed research is to take up this challenge and determine how anthropogenic disturbances interact with natural drivers to impact epigenetic signalling and thereby animal function.