Sperm Chromatin: Implications on organismal development and fertility

现有大型和/或纵向研究的辅助生殖健康项目 精子和卵细胞将遗传和表观遗传信息从父母传递给后代， 一个物种的过去现在和未来与卵母细胞和体细胞不同，它们将DNA包装成 组蛋白，成熟精子的DNA被鱼精蛋白结合，鱼精蛋白是高度碱性和快速进化的蛋白质， 对父亲染色质的致密化至关重要。这种差异包装可以追溯到> 5亿年前， 但是鱼精蛋白包装的生物学和功能意义仍然知之甚少。这里 我们确定了鱼精蛋白在协调正常胚胎发育中的功能作用。这 一项提案旨在开发额外的分子遗传工具，以剖析鱼精蛋白在生育中的作用， 发展和进化。总之，这里提出的发现将增加我们对 这些古老但快速进化的蛋白质，可能会推翻长期以来对其假定功能的教条。

Ancillary reproductive health projects to existing large and/or longitudinal studies Sperm and egg cells carry genetic and epigenetic information from parents to offspring, serving as a link between the past, present and future of a species. Unlike oocytes and somatic cells, which package their DNA with histones, the DNA of mature sperm is bound by protamines, highly basic and rapidly evolving proteins that are essential for the compaction of paternal chromatin. This differential packaging traces back >500 million years, but the biological and functional significance of protamine protein packaging remains poorly understood. Here we identified a functional role for protamine proteins in coordinating proper embryonic development. This proposal aims to develop additional molecular genetic tools to dissect the role of protamines in fertility, early development, and evolution. Together, the findings presented here will increase our molecular understanding of these ancient, yet rapidly evolving proteins and may overturn the long-held dogma of their presumed function.