miRNA Might Mediate Intergenerational Inheritance of Enhanced Synaptic Plasticity by Alterations of Gene Expression

Abstract

In a previous paper, intergenerational inheritance of changes in synaptic plasticity, which was related to the increased level of microRNA212/132, was found in mice. A hypothesis about a specific mechanism is made that the increased miRNA212/132 can transfer from adult male mice’s hippocampus to their sperms through the circulatory system. Then the miRNA changes the gene’s expression level related to mouse embryos’ neurodevelopment to alter synaptic plasticity. This hypothesis indicates the connection between epigenetics and neuroscience. This work comes up with several experiments to verify the hypothesis made and other possible precise mechanisms for intergenerational inheritance of enhanced synaptic plasticity in mice.