ArticlePLoS genetics2021
Stability of the cytosine methylome during post-testicular sperm maturation in mouse.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- On the state of chromatin in mammalian sperm.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The bull sperm epigenome: role in male fertility and transmission to the offspring.The Journal of reproduction and development · 2026Review
- Protamine expression in somatic cells condenses chromatin and disrupts transcription without altering DNA methylation.Epigenetics & chromatin · 2025Article
- Characteristic analysis of NBMC genomics · 2025Article
- Three-dimensional genome structures of single mammalian sperm.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Acupuncture mediates the "gut-testis axis" to improve asthenozoospermia.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Subchronic elevation in ambient temperature drives alterations to the sperm epigenome and accelerates early embryonic development in mice.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Trim66's paternal deficiency causes intrauterine overgrowth.Life science alliance · 2024Article
- QTLs and Candidate Genes Associated with Semen Traits in Merino Sheep.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- CpG DNA methylation changes during epididymal sperm maturation in bulls.Epigenetics & chromatin · 2023Article
- The third barrier to transgenerational inheritance in animals: somatic epigenetic resetting.EMBO reports · 2023Article
- The Sperm Small RNA Transcriptome: Implications beyond Reproductive Disorder.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Chromatin alterations during the epididymal maturation of mouse sperm refine the paternally inherited epigenome.Epigenetics & chromatin · 2022Article
- Sperm Heterogeneity Accounts for Sperm DNA Methylation Variations Observed in the Caput Epididymis, Independently From DNMT/TET Activities.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Beyond the haploid genome, mammalian sperm carry a payload of epigenetic information with the potential to modulate offspring phenotypes. Recent studies show that the small RNA repertoire of sperm is remodeled during post-testicular maturation in the epididymis. Epididymal maturation has also been linked to changes in the sperm methylome, suggesting that the epididymis might play a broader role in shaping the sperm epigenome. Here, we characterize the genome-wide methylation landscape in seven germ cell populations from throughout the male reproductive tract. We find very few changes in the cytosine methylation landscape between testicular germ cell populations and cauda epididymal sperm, demonstrating that the sperm methylome is stable throughout post-testicular maturation. Although our sequencing data suggested that caput epididymal sperm exhibit a highly unusual methylome, follow-up studies revealed that this resulted from contamination of caput sperm by extracellular DNA. Extracellular DNA formed web-like structures that ensnared sperm, and was present only in sperm samples obtained from the caput epididymis and vas deferens of virgin males. Curiously, contaminating extracellular DNA was associated with citrullinated histone H3, potentially resulting from a PAD-driven genome decondensation process. Taken together, our data emphasize the stability of cytosine methylation in mammalian sperm, and identify a surprising, albeit transient, period during which sperm are associated with extracellular DNA.
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