Transgenerational Epigenetics

Dr. Tollefsbol is a Distinguished Professor of Biology and a Senior Scientist in the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, Integrative Center for Aging Research, Nutrition Obesity Research Center, University Wide Microbiome Center, and the Comprehensive Diabetes Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He is Director of the UAB Cell Senescence Culture Facility which he established in 1999. Dr. Tollefsbol trained as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Assistant Research Professor with members of the National Academy of Science at Duke University and the University of North Carolina. He earned doctorates in molecular biology and osteopathic medicine from the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center and his bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Houston. He has received prior funding from the NCI, NHLBI, NIMH and other federal institutes as well as the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) among many other sources.

1. Generational epigenetic inheritance

SECTION I Definitions and history of generational epigenetic inheritance 2. Definition of epigenetic transgenerational inheritance and biological impacts 3. Historical perspective of transgenerational epigenetics

SECTION II Germline epigenetics 4. Epigenetic changes in the mammalian paternal germ line

SECTION III Parental epigenetic inheritance 5. Maternal epigenetic inheritance 6. Paternal epigenetic inheritance

SECTION IV Basic mechanisms/processes of epigenetic inheritance 7. Towards the molecular mechanisms of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance: insights from transgenic mice 8. Histone-mediated transgenerational epigenetics 9. Heritable generational epigenetic effects through small noncoding RNA 10. Long noncoding RNA and epigenetic inheritance

SECTION V Model organisms 11. Nonmammalian model organisms in epigenetic research:an overview 12. Plant models of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance 13. Epigenetics and heritable phenotypic variations in livestock 14. Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in insects

SECTION VI Evolution of transgenerational epigenetics 15. Evolutionary perspectives on transgenerational epigenetics 16. Inheritance of epigenome variants across generations during evolution

SECTION VII Environmental epigenetic effects on the offspring 17. Transgenerational epigenetics of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in mammals 18. Transgenerational effects of imprinting 19. Epigenetic inheritance across multiple generations

SECTION VIII Impact of transgenerational epigenetics on disease 20. Transgenerational epigenetics, paternal obesity, and insulin resistance 21. Epigenetic inheritance of type 2 diabetes

SECTION IX Clinical significance of transgenerational epigenetics 22. Clinical aspects of transgenerational epigenetics