Effect of TCDD exposure in adult female and male mice on the expression of miRNA in the ovaries and testes and associated reproductive functions

The current study demonstrates for the first time that exposure of adult male and female mice to TCDD results in significant alterations in a large number of miRNAs in the ovaries and the testes. These findings suggest that environmental contaminants such as TCDD may alter reproductive functions through alterations in the expression of miRNAs. Future studies will focus on whether such miRNA changes also occur in the germ cells which would explain how TCDD exerts transgenerational effects on the reproductive system by regulating epigenetic pathways involving miRNA Mice were dosed at 10µg/kg body weight. Male and female mice were either treated with TCDD or vehicle, the latter consisting of an equal amount of DMSO in corn oil, On day 3, ovaries and testes were harvested and single cell suspensions were prepared. miRNA arrays were performed using total RNAs including microRNA and using Affymetrix microarray platform