Direct evidence for transport of RNA from the mouse brain to the germline and offspring?

Direct evidence for transport of RNA from the mouse brain to the germline and offspring. Elizabeth A. O’Brien, Kathleen S. Ensbey, Bryan W. Day, Paul A. Baldock, Guy Barry. bioRxiv, June 28, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1101/686634

Abstract: The traditional concept that heritability occurs exclusively from the transfer of germline-restricted genetics is being challenged by the increasing accumulation of evidence confirming the existence of experience-dependent transgenerational inheritance. Transgenerational inheritance is emerging as a powerful mechanism for robustly transmitting phenotypic adaptations to offspring. However, questions remain unanswered as to how this heritable information is passed from somatic cells. Previous studies have implicated the critical involvement of RNA in heritable transgenerational effects and the high degree of mobility and genomic impact of RNAs in all organisms is an attractive model for the efficient transfer of genetic information. Here we show, for the first time, robust transport of RNA from the brain of an adult male mouse to sperm, and subsequently to offspring. Our observation of heritable genetic information originating from a somatic tissue may reveal a mechanism for how transgenerational effects are transmitted to offspring.