HOW DOES EPIGENETICS CHANGE ON EXERCISE DNA?

HOW DOES EPIGENETICS CHANGE ON EXERCISE DNA?

Gülsen Meral

We know that the foods we eat can have either a harmful or beneficial effect on our bodies. It is now understood that these effects take place especially on DNA. This field, called nutrigenomics, is how our dietary foods can affect our DNA by making chemical changes and epigenetic modifications, which can either turn on or turn off gene expression. This can lead to positive or negative outcomes in our bodies. Future treatments are being planned by considering individual DNA and epigenetic changes. The important thing here is to identify DNA changes through personal tests, not just considering nutrition but also lifestyle, exercise, and familial behaviors that may also cause epigenetic changes.

 

Sequentially, diet, exercise and environmental conditions are important in terms of "opening" or "closing" genes epigenetically. We have the opportunity to reduce disease risk and see positive effects on health by personalizing our lifestyle and diet.

 

It is pleasing that epigenetic changes that are a part of chronic diseases can be modified by nutrition and food bioactive compounds, which gives us the opportunity to protect ourselves from and treat chronic diseases. It is now understood that how our body is affected by what we eat, the environment and exercise is shaped by the life coding on our DNA. The important question now is how will we eat, knowing that protecting ourselves from diseases and treating chronic diseases is achieved by changing DNA epigenetic coding. At this point, personal tests and personalized nutrition are important.

 

 

Physical activity plays a role in the prevention and treatment of diseases such as cancer, metabolic, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases through epigenetic mechanisms. Studies have shown that aerobic and resistance training have the potential to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. The beneficial effects of aerobic and resistance training have been observed in patients with coronary heart disease, diabetes and heart failure, as well as in individuals affected by conditions such as multiple sclerosis and chronic lung disease. Physical activity has been shown to act as a modulator of histone acetylation, particularly H3 and H4, in different tissues. Some studies provide valuable information about the frequency and duration of specific exercise protocols that can prevent or treat certain diseases or observed "positive" epigenetic changes. Long-term physical activity has been shown to affect epigenetic modulation and to reduce the risk and mortality of cancer, such as breast, colorectal and stomach cancer. High levels of physical activity have been observed to reduce the risk of having TP53 and KRAS2 colorectal tumor mutations. It is known that mothers' nutrition before and during pregnancy causes epigenetic changes in babies. Fathers' sports also affect learning and memory through epigenetic changes on the hippocampus and brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene. Physical activity has lasting effects on the epigenetic regulation of gene expression in an important area for the brain and learning and memory through these two important epigenetic mechanisms: DNA methylation and histone acetylation. These two mechanisms work in opposite ways, where DNA methylation suppresses gene expression while histone acetylation increases gene expression.

A class of enzymes called DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) catalyze the methylation of DNA bases. This typically occurs on the base cytosine in regions called "islands" of cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) that are found throughout the human genome. This methylated DNA can interfere with the binding of proteins called transcription factors, which are responsible for promoting gene expression, in the regulatory regions of DNA that normally would promote gene expression, thereby repressing gene expression. Methylated DNA can also recruit other proteins that alter the structure of DNA in ways that transcriptional activators can no longer access. A growing body of evidence has demonstrated the power of exercise in supporting cognitive function. Its effects can be long-lasting and can even impact future generations. The impact of exercise on the epigenetic regulation of gene expression appears to center on the creation of an "epigenetic memory" that can shape long-term brain function and behavior. In this review article, we discuss new developments in the epigenetic field that link exercise together. Understanding how changes in cognitive function, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and microRNAs, support the long-term cognitive effects of exercise can help direct the power of exercise to alleviate the burden of neurological and psychiatric disorders. BDNF (Brain-derived neurotrophic factor) is an important gene for learning and memory, so its expression is tightly regulated. Another study also summarizes studies showing the effects of exercise on methylation and acetylation of BDNF in the hippocampus. The general trend is an increase in histone acetylation and a decrease in DNA methylation. Both of these can lead to an increase in the expression of this bdnf gene, which can help explain how exercise improves memory.

When you want to quickly learn something and remember it for a longer period of time next time, start by doing some exercise! And if you want to do a good deed for your future children, it turns out that the effects of exercise on memory can also be transmitted from generation to generation!

But what about intergenerational effects? The most important thing is that people's epigenetic changes are permanent like genetic transmission with sport and it is called Epigenetic Inheritance. Is it just the mother or the father too? Studies have shown that aerobic exercise is sufficient to change DNA methylation in sperm and has been transmitted from generation to generation.

A study in Gottingen showed that miRNA molecules play an important role in epigenetic learning ability. In the mouse experiment they conducted, the mice were divided into two groups using different methods and compared to the control group, the offspring of parents who received physical and mental exercise showed much better performance in learning tests. In addition, these mice saw an increase in synapses in the hippocampus, which is very important for learning in the brain. The more synapses increase, the more nerve cells can communicate with each other, which forms the cellular basis for learning. When they examined the epigenetic change, they did experiments to see how RNA molecules played a role in inherited learning abilities.

Scientists found that miRNA212 and miRNA132, among others, increased epigenetic inheritance of learning ability. The more these miRNAs were present, the greater the inherited learning ability was. Studies like these demonstrate the importance of exercise in not only improving cognitive function in the short-term, but also in shaping long-term cognitive function through epigenetic mechanisms. Researchers are now planning to investigate whether these two microRNAs accumulate in human sperm after completing physical and mental exercise. A large number of evidence has shown the power of exercise in supporting cognitive function. Its effects can last for a long time. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that the effects of exercise last longer than previously thought. It also affects future generations. The effects of exercise on gene expression through epigenetic regulation seem to be central to creating an "epigenetic memory" that affects long-term brain function and behavior. In this study, the researchers found that exercise caused changes in sperm DNA methylation at the global and genome-wide level after 3 months of exercise training. There were also changes in DNA methylation in genes associated with numerous diseases including schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. Both epidemiological and laboratory studies suggest that parents can shape their offspring's development. Recently, it has been shown that exercise during pregnancy can benefit the developing brain of the fetus. However, little is known about the effects of paternal exercise on the phenotype of offspring. In this study, the authors aimed to determine the effects of 6-week paternal treadmill exercise on spatial learning and memory, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and reelin expression in male offspring. Male offspring were divided into two groups: control (C) and exercise (E). The E group of mice were used on a treadmill for 5 days a week for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks of exercise, male mice were mated with female mice. After weaning, behavioral assessments were performed on male offspring (Open field and Morris water maze tests). Immunohistochemistry staining, real-time PCR and western blot were performed to determine BDNF and reelin expression in the hippocampus of male offspring. The results showed that paternal treadmill exercise improved spatial learning and memory capacity in male offspring, accompanied by increased BDNF and reelin expression compared to the C group. The study suggests that paternal exercise can have a positive impact on offspring's brain development. However, more research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying these effects and to confirm these findings in human populations. Research shows that exercise can change the marks on your DNA, ultimately affecting the expression of genes.  A study on 263 women between the ages of 45 and 85 who practiced tai chi and 263 women who did not, evaluated age-related DNA methylation changes. 60 specific DNA methylation patterns related to aging were looked at. The study found that in women who practiced tai chi for 3 years, DNA methylation was found to be lower in four CpG regions compared to those who did not practice tai chi. The study also showed that tai chi slowed age-related methylation by 5-70%. This suggests that tai chi has a positive effect on DNA and slows the aging process. Practitioners of tai chi have stronger DNA repair mechanisms, advanced lymphocyte renewal, and active endogenous antioxidant enzymes that reduce oxidative damage, as well as less severely damaged DNA. The slowing of age-related changes in methylation may protect against the inevitable deterioration of epigenetic regulatory mechanisms as a function of age. The potential connection between tai chi and anti-aging effects could include the epigenetic regulation of progenitor cell proliferation. An increase in CD34+ progenitor levels associated with the promotion of regenerative health in the peripheral blood of tai chi practitioners has been observed.  The examination of epigenetics, or the biological changes caused by different chemical markers that change the expression of our genes, shows that yoga deeply penetrates our minds and bodies and can even touch the code of life.

Yoga has long been associated with improving well-being and reducing stress - but how? Previous studies have found that this mind-body practice improves mood and helps with depression, reduces stress, and even reduces chronic pain. While the molecular basis is not fully understood yet, researchers are slowly uncovering clues that we can relax not just during yoga, but also in our genes.

 

In a preliminary study conducted by Australian researchers, women with psychological distress participated in an hour-long yoga class twice a week for 8 weeks. Compared to their counterparts who did not participate in this meditative movement therapy, they had measurable epigenetic changes in their DNA and an increase in a specific immunity protein. As previously mentioned, it is known that epigenetic modifications can be reversible. In a study, it has been reported that insulin resistance and methylation of the CpG promoter region of the PPARGC1A gene occurs as a result of 9 days of physical inactivity (bed rest). It is well-known that physical inactivity brings significant health risks (heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, etc.) with it.

 

 

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