Site-specific DNA demethylation during spermatogenesis presets the sites of nucleosome retention in mouse sperm.

ABSTRACT: DNA methylation patterns are inherited from the parental germline to the embryo. In mature sperm, the sites of unmethylated DNA are tightly coupled to sites of histone retention at gene regulatory elements that are implicated in paternal epigenetic inheritance. The timing and mechanism of site-specific DNA demethylation in the male germline currently remains unknown. Here, we perform genome-wide profiling of DNA methylation during spermatogenesis by capturing methylated DNA through interaction with a methyl-DNA binding protein domain (MBD). Our data demonstrate that there is a site-specific change in DNA methylation during the mitosis-to-meiosis transition. Importantly, the genomic sites that are demethylated during this transition predetermine nucleosome retention sites in spermatozoa. Th

SUBMITTER: Maezawa S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11741358 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature