Jung Yoon Hee, Sauria Michael E G, Lyu Xiaowen, Cheema Manjinder S, Ausio Juan, Taylor James, Corces Victor G
Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
Cell Rep. 2017 Feb 7;18(6):1366-1382. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.01.034.
The mammalian sperm genome is thought to lack substantial information for the regulation of future expression after fertilization. Here, we show that most promoters in mouse sperm are flanked by well-positioned nucleosomes marked by active histone modifications. Analysis of these modifications suggests that many enhancers and super-enhancers functional in embryonic and adult tissues are already specified in sperm. The sperm genome is bound by CTCF and cohesin at sites that are also present in round spermatids and embryonic stem cells (ESCs). These sites mediate interactions that organize the sperm genome into domains and compartments that overlap extensively with those found in mESCs. These results suggest that sperm carry a rich source of regulatory information, encoded in part by its three-dimensional folding specified by CTCF and cohesin. This information may contribute to future expression during embryonic and adult life, suggesting mechanisms by which environmental effects on the paternal germline are transmitted transgenerationally.
哺乳动物精子基因组被认为缺乏受精后调控未来基因表达的大量信息。在此，我们表明小鼠精子中的大多数启动子两侧都有定位良好的核小体，这些核小体带有活跃的组蛋白修饰标记。对这些修饰的分析表明，许多在胚胎和成年组织中起作用的增强子和超级增强子在精子中就已被确定。精子基因组在圆形精子细胞和胚胎干细胞（ESC）中也存在的位点上与CTCF和黏连蛋白结合。这些位点介导的相互作用将精子基因组组织成与小鼠胚胎干细胞中广泛重叠的结构域和间隔区。这些结果表明，精子携带丰富的调控信息来源，部分由CTCF和黏连蛋白指定的三维折叠编码。这些信息可能有助于胚胎期和成年期的未来基因表达，提示了父系生殖系的环境影响跨代传递的机制。
