Emerging evidence that the mammalian sperm epigenome serves as a template for embryo development.

ABSTRACT: Although more studies are demonstrating that a father's environment can influence child health and disease, the molecular mechanisms underlying non-genetic inheritance remain unclear. It was previously thought that sperm exclusively contributed its genome to the egg. More recently, association studies have shown that various environmental exposures including poor diet, toxicants, and stress, perturbed epigenetic marks in sperm at important reproductive and developmental loci that were associated with offspring phenotypes. The molecular and cellular routes that underlie how epigenetic marks are transmitted at fertilization, to resist epigenetic reprogramming in the embryo, and drive phenotypic changes are only now beginning to be unraveled. Here, we provide an overview of the state of the f

SUBMITTER: Lismer A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10104880 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature