Fig. 8

Acrylamide exposures generates epigenetic variations via DNA methylation. (A) Relative mRNA expression of cardiac NOTCH signaling pathway related genes in control and acrylamide-treated (10 mg/kg·bw per day) rat embryos (n = 3 per group). Relative mRNA expression of cardiac Dnmt1, Dnmt3a, and Dnmt3b genes in control and acrylamide-treated (1, 5, and 10 mg/kg·bw per day) rat embryos at (B to D) GD8 (n = 5 per group), (E to G) GD12 (n = 4 per group), and (H to J) GD19 (n = 6 per group). (K) Molecular docking results and residues of acrylamide interacting with DNMT1. (L) Acrylamide–DNMT1 conformational changes during the MD simulation: P1224 and C1226 are in the left, and E1266 and R1312 are in the right. Data are presented as the means ± SEM. Significance was calculated using 2-tailed P values by unpaired Student’s t test or one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test; *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01; groups labeled with different letters differed significantly (P < 0.05).