Prenatal nicotine exposure induces epigenetic alterations in the Notch signaling genes in the proximal colon in rats [RNA-seq]

Background. Prenatal nicotine exposure (PNE) has been shown to significantly impact fetal development, leading to various pathologies in adulthood, including those affecting the digestive system. Despite considerable attention from the scientific community on the health effects of nicotine consumption, the epigenetic effects of nicotine on the colon remain poorly understood. Objective, in this study, we analyzed the epigenetic effects of nicotine on the proximal colon. Methods. Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to nicotine during gestation with dose 6mg/kg/bw. The proximal colon of male progeny was analyzed at 11 weeks of age. RNA was extracted using a RNeasy plus kit and treated with a DNAse kit from Qiagen directly on the column. 1000 ng of RNA were used for library preparation using NEBNext® Ultra™ II DNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina and indexed primers. Transcriptomics analysis of the proximal colon was carried out by paired-end RNA sequencing.