The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) received a $646,476 Project Grant award on January 23, 2025 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) under the Environmental Health (CFDA 93.113) federal grant program. The award supports research to understand how environmental chemicals like inorganic arsenic trigger epigenetic changes that can resist reprogramming in germ cells and become heritable. Specifically, the research will: (1) assess the developmental reprogramming of arsenic-induced epimutations; (2) test whether arsenic's metabolic impact is required for inducing these epimutations; and (3) examine whether the activities of two key arsenic metabolism enzymes are required for the locus-specific epigenetic alterations. This work leverages a unique mouse embryonic stem cell model to study the mechanisms by which arsenic exposure causes heritable epigenetic changes that resist developmental reprogramming. The findings have the potential to advance understanding of how environmental toxicants can trigger transgenerational epigenetic effects.
Generated 3/4/25, 8:18 AM