ArticleGenome research2016
Sperm is epigenetically programmed to regulate gene transcription in embryos.
Article in Genome research, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 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.
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Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 133 citations in OpenAlex.
- Higher-order genome architecture of spermatids guides chromatin assembly in mature sperm.Research square · 2026Article
- New Insight Into Male Infertility: Deviation From Basic Tenets of Life.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2026Review
- Pre-marking chromatin with H3K4 methylation is required for accurate zygotic genome activation and development.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Reversibility, regulation, and the community of development: the legacy of Sir John B. Gurdon.Nature communications · 2025Review
- Article
- Sperm rDNA Copy Number and Methylation Are Associated with Male-Factor Infertility.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- SETD1B-mediated broad H3K4me3 controls proper temporal patterns of gene expression critical for spermatid development.Cell research · 2025Article
- rDNA Copy Number Variation and Methylation in Human and Mouse Sperm.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Sperm derived H2AK119ub1 is required for embryonic development in Xenopus laevis.Nature communications · 2025Article
- How do lifestyle and environmental factors influence the sperm epigenome? Effects on sperm fertilising ability, embryo development, and offspring health.Clinical epigenetics · 2025Review
- Probing the Genomic Distribution of Histone Modifications in Egg Extract-Treated Sperm Nuclei.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2025Article
- Sperm histone modifications may predict success in human assisted reproduction: a pilot study.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2024Article
- D4Z4 Hypomethylation in Human Germ Cells.Cells · 2024Article
- ERS International Congress 2023: highlights from the Respiratory Infections Assembly.ERJ open research · 2024Article
- Environmental and Genetic Traffic in the Journey from Sperm to Offspring.Biomolecules · 2023Review
- Age-associated DNA methylation changes inEpigenetics · 2023Article
- Cryopreservation effect on DNA methylation profile in rainbow trout spermatozoa.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Casting histone variants during mammalian reproduction.Chromosoma · 2023Review
- Article
- Nucleosomes in mammalian sperm: conveying paternal epigenetic inheritance or subject to reprogramming between generations?Current opinion in genetics & development · 2023Review
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
For a long time, it has been assumed that the only role of sperm at fertilization is to introduce the male genome into the egg. Recently, ideas have emerged that the epigenetic state of the sperm nucleus could influence transcription in the embryo. However, conflicting reports have challenged the existence of epigenetic marks on sperm genes, and there are no functional tests supporting the role of sperm epigenetic marking on embryonic gene expression. Here, we show that sperm is epigenetically programmed to regulate embryonic gene expression. By comparing the development of sperm- and spermatid-derived frog embryos, we show that the programming of sperm for successful development relates to its ability to regulate transcription of a set of developmentally important genes. During spermatid maturation into sperm, these genes lose H3K4me2/3 and retain H3K27me3 marks. Experimental removal of these epigenetic marks at fertilization de-regulates gene expression in the resulting embryos in a paternal chromatin-dependent manner. This demonstrates that epigenetic instructions delivered by the sperm at fertilization are required for correct regulation of gene expression in the future embryos. The epigenetic mechanisms of developmental programming revealed here are likely to relate to the mechanisms involved in transgenerational transmission of acquired traits. Understanding how parental experience can influence development of the progeny has broad potential for improving human health.
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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.