Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Institute of Translational Pharmacology, National Resarch Council of Italy (CNR), Rome, Italy.
Proc Biol Sci. 2019 Aug 28;286(1909):20191263. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1263.
The active uptake of exogenous nucleic acids by spermatozoa of virtually all animal species is a well-established phenomenon whose significance has long been underappreciated. A growing body of published data demonstrates that extracellular vesicles released from mammalian somatic tissues pass an RNA-based flow of information to epididymal spermatozoa, thereby crossing the Weismann barrier. That information is delivered to oocytes at fertilization and affects the fate of the developing progeny. We propose that this essential process of epigenetic transmission depends upon the documented ability of epididymal spermatozoa to bind and internalize foreign nucleic acids in their nuclei. In other words, spermatozoa are not passive vectors of exogenous molecules but rather active participants in essential somatic communication across generations.
实际上，所有动物物种的精子都能主动摄取外源性核酸，这是一个早已确立的现象，但它的重要性却长期被低估。越来越多的已发表数据表明，哺乳动物体细胞释放的细胞外囊泡将基于 RNA 的信息流传递给附睾精子，从而跨越魏斯曼屏障。这些信息在受精时传递给卵子，并影响发育后代的命运。我们提出，这种重要的表观遗传传递过程依赖于文献记录的附睾精子在其核内结合和内化外源核酸的能力。换句话说，精子不是外源性分子的被动载体，而是跨代进行重要体细胞通讯的积极参与者。
