The classical idea about the function of the mammalian sperm chromatin is that it serves to transmit a highly protected and transcriptionally inactive paternal genome, largely condensed by protamines, to the next generation. In addition, recent sperm chromatin genome-wide dissection studies indicate the presence of a differential distribution of the genes and repetitive sequences in the protami...

Received: 13 November 2010 Revised: 16 May 2011 Accepted: 15 June 2011 Abstract Background: Sperm cells extracted from testes (TESE) have poor chromatin quality and motility. Various substances are used in the laboratory to increase sperm motility and improve the ART outcomes; however, there are few research which considered improving both sperm motility and chromatin quality. Objective: The ai...

Cysteine oxidation in protamines leads to their oligomerization and contributes to sperm chromatin compaction. Here we identify the Drosophila thioredoxin Deadhead (DHD) as the factor responsible for the reduction of intermolecular disulfide bonds in protamines and their eviction from sperm during fertilization. Protamine chaperone TAP/p32 dissociates DNA-protamine complexes in vitro only when ...

Background Flow cytometry (FCM) has been extensively used to study mammalian sperm in the areas of clinical andrology and reproductive toxicology. FCM provides a powerful advantage over microscopy technique in terms of rapid accurate and reproducible technology for the quantification of various cell characteristics including chromatin status. During spermiogenesis histones are replaced by prota...

The mammalian spermatozoon has a unique chromatin structure where the majority of DNA is packaged by protamines, while a small fraction (∼8%) remains associated with nucleosomes. However, the chromatin affinity and repertoire of the additional proteins constituting the different sperm chromatin fractions have not yet been explored. To address this we have carried out a genomic and proteomic cha...

Background: Cytoplasm and mitochondria are considered as the major origins of sperm ROS production. Sperm is prone to DNA damage by exposure to ROS or due impaired chromatin remodeling or low DNA protamination. Therefore, the aim of this study was to see if there is any association between impaired chromatin packaging and origin of ROS production. Materials and Methods: Cytosolic ROS, mitochond...

Pattabiraman et al. add a subtle and unexpected entry to the long list of differences between the sexes. The researchers discovered that a protein that controls gene expression in maturing sperm performs a different function in maturing oocytes, where it promotes chromosome condensation and stability (1). Once meiosis is complete in male mammals, the resulting cells, known as spermatids, underg...

BACKGROUND Methamphetamine (MA) was shown to have harmful effects on male reproductive system. OBJECTIVE To investigate probable effects of daily administration of MA on sperm parameters and chromatin/DNA integrity in mouse. MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty-five NMRI male mice were divided into five groups including low, medium, and high dosage groups which were injected intraperitoneally with 4...

Sperm chromatin/DNA damage can be measured by a variety of assays. However, it has been reported that these tests may lose prognostic value in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) cycles when assessed in post-prepared samples, possibly due to the normalizing effect promoted by sperm preparation procedures. We have recently implemented a modified version of the Diff-Quik staining assay that al...