Epigenetic regulation of 5α reductase-1 underlies adaptive plasticity of reproductive function and pubertal timing

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Bar-Sadeh, B, Amichai, OE, Pnueli, L, Begum, K, Leeman, G, Emes, RD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6855-5481, Stöger, R, Bentley, GR and Melamed, P, 2022. Epigenetic regulation of 5α reductase-1 underlies adaptive plasticity of reproductive function and pubertal timing. BMC Biology, 20: 11. ISSN 1741-7007

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-021-01219-6

Abstract

Background: Women facing increased energetic demands in childhood commonly have altered adult ovarian activity and shorter reproductive lifespan, possibly comprising a strategy to optimize reproductive success. Here, we sought to understand the mechanisms of early-life programming of reproductive function, by integrating analysis of reproductive tissues in an appropriate mouse model with methylation analysis of proxy tissue DNA in a well-characterized population of Bangladeshi migrants in the UK. Bangladeshi women whose childhood was in Bangladesh were found to have later pubertal onset and lower age-matched ovarian reserve than Bangladeshi women who grew-up in England. Subsequently, we aimed to explore the potential relevance to the altered reproductive phenotype of one of the genes that emerged from the screens.

Results: Of the genes associated with differential methylation in the Bangladeshi women whose childhood was in Bangladesh as compared to Bangladeshi women who grew up in the UK, 13 correlated with altered expression of the orthologous gene in the mouse model ovaries. These mice had delayed pubertal onset and a smaller ovarian reserve compared to controls. The most relevant of these genes for reproductive function appeared to be SRD5A1, which encodes the steroidogenic enzyme 5α reductase-1. SRD5A1 was more methylated at the same transcriptional enhancer in mice ovaries as in the women’s buccal DNA, and its expression was lower in the hypothalamus of the mice as well, suggesting a possible role in the central control of reproduction. The expression of Kiss1 and Gnrh was also lower in these mice compared to controls, and inhibition of 5α reductase-1 reduced Kiss1 and Gnrh mRNA levels and blocked GnRH release in GnRH neuronal cell cultures. Crucially, we show that inhibition of this enzyme in female mice in vivo delayed pubertal onset.

Conclusions: SRD5A1/5α reductase-1 responds epigenetically to the environment and its downregulation appears to alter the reproductive phenotype. These findings help to explain diversity in reproductive characteristics and how they are shaped by early-life environment and reveal novel pathways that might be targeted to mitigate health issues caused by life-history trade-offs.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	BMC Biology
Creators:	Bar-Sadeh, B., Amichai, O.E., Pnueli, L., Begum, K., Leeman, G., Emes, R.D., Stöger, R., Bentley, G.R. and Melamed, P.
Publisher:	Springer
Date:	7 January 2022
Volume:	20
ISSN:	1741-7007
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1186/s12915-021-01219-6 DOI 1727714 Other
Rights:	This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
Divisions:	Professional Services > The Directorate
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	09 Feb 2023 08:46
Last Modified:	09 Feb 2023 08:46
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/48201