ArticleNature2009
Distinctive chromatin in human sperm packages genes for embryo development.
Article in Nature, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 625 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
625 citing papers in PubMed, 1,305 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transcriptional activation of the CXCL gene family locus in mature human sperm in the presence of female-derived reproductive fluid.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2026Article
- Altered sperm DNA methylation provides an epigenetic route from overweight and older men to intergenerational disease transmission.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Conserved sex-biased DNA methylation patterns target key developmental genes and reproductive function in two Poeciliidae species.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Article
- Sperm AluY Epimutations in Male Partners of Couples with Unexplained Recurrent Pregnancy Loss.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Heat Stress and the Bull Sperm Transcriptome: Molecular Mechanisms, Fertility, and Epigenetic Inheritance.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Review
- Epigenetics in development, disease, and therapy: from mechanisms to clinical interventions.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
- Higher-order genome architecture of spermatids guides chromatin assembly in mature sperm.Research square · 2026Article
- Germline hypomethylation shapes dynamic CpG reservoirs in ape genomes.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- On the state of chromatin in mammalian sperm.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Paternal Circadian Disruption Impairs Offspring Cognition via Sperm microRNAs.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Epigenetic Functions of SMYD5 and Its Role in Development, Cancer and Other Cellular Processes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Distinct functions in fertility and patterns of paternal incorporation of the histone H2A variants HTAS-1 and HTZ-1 in C. elegans.Genetics · 2026Article
- Engineered bipaternal mice reveal the consequences of life without a maternal genomic contribution.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Germline and Embryonic Mechanisms in the Epigenetic Inheritance of Neurodevelopmental and Cognitive Traits in Mammals.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Ancestral chromatin state constrains the functional landscape of bivalent domains in mammalian spermatogenesis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Metabolic oxidoreductases: central regulators of the epigenetic landscapes in stemness.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2026Review
- Unravelling male infertility through epigenetics: present understanding and future challenges.Mammalian genome : official journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society · 2026Review
- Complementary constraints in germ and immune cells shape evolution of gene regulation and phenotype.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Clinical Implications of Paternal Age in Assisted Reproduction: Integrating Sperm Epigenetic Evidence.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Redox-Genomic Crosstalk: Linking Oxidative Stress, Sperm DNA Fragmentation, and Epigenetics in Personalized Management of Male Infertility.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Review
565 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Because nucleosomes are widely replaced by protamine in mature human sperm, the epigenetic contributions of sperm chromatin to embryo development have been considered highly limited. Here we show that the retained nucleosomes are significantly enriched at loci of developmental importance, including imprinted gene clusters, microRNA clusters, HOX gene clusters, and the promoters of stand-alone developmental transcription and signalling factors. Notably, histone modifications localize to particular developmental loci. Dimethylated lysine 4 on histone H3 (H3K4me2) is enriched at certain developmental promoters, whereas large blocks of H3K4me3 localize to a subset of developmental promoters, regions in HOX clusters, certain noncoding RNAs, and generally to paternally expressed imprinted loci, but not paternally repressed loci. Notably, trimethylated H3K27 (H3K27me3) is significantly enriched at developmental promoters that are repressed in early embryos, including many bivalent (H3K4me3/H3K27me3) promoters in embryonic stem cells. Furthermore, developmental promoters are generally DNA hypomethylated in sperm, but acquire methylation during differentiation. Taken together, epigenetic marking in sperm is extensive, and correlated with developmental regulators.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.