SMARCA5 restricts chromatin accessibility to promote male meiosis and fertility in mammals.

ABSTRACT: Establishment of correct chromatin configuration in male meiosis is essential for sperm formation and male fertility. However, how chromatin remodeling contributes to meiotic progression in male germ cells is not well understood. Here, we find that the ISWI family ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling factor SMARCA5 (SNF2H) plays a critical role in regulating meiotic prophase progression during spermatogenesis in mice. Male mice with germ cell-specific depletion of SMARCA5 are infertile and unable to form sperm. Conditional knockout of Smarca5 results in meiotic progression failure, with abnormal spermatocytes appearing at the pachytene stage of meiosis I and subsequent accumulation of defects in chromosome synapsis, DNA repair, and transposon control, along with elevated rates of apop

SUBMITTER: Kataruka S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12337329 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature