Figure 11. Schematic of the effect of paternal exposure to the high-cholesterol diet on sperm sncRNAs and offspring atherosclerosis development.

Paternal high-cholesterol feeding led to significantly increased atherosclerosis and intimal inflammation in F1 female, but not male, LDLR^–/– offspring. PANDORA-Seq identified an altered sncRNA landscape in the sperm of high-cholesterol diet–fed LDLR^–/– sires. Overexpression of a pool of sperm tsRNAs/rsRNAs that were upregulated in the sperm of hypercholesterolemic sires induced transcription changes in embryoid bodies that may contribute the increased atherosclerosis in the adult offspring. The image was created with BioRender.com.