Figure 3.

Transgenerational inheritance of altered ERVs activity in the VPA-induced mouse models of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), potentially involved mechanisms. VPA exposure of the pregnant dam (F₀) leads a direct insult to the fetus (F₁) and to germ cells that will generate the F₂ generation, while the F₃ is the first generation not directly exposed. Transgenerational transmission of abnormal ERVs expression induced by VPA could be due to changes in the epigenetic status or of the ERVs copy number variation in the genome.