Spermiogenesis is a complex process leading to the formation of motile spermatozoa characterized by a highly stable chromatin compaction that transfers the paternal genome into the oocyte. It is commonly held that these haploid cells are devoid of transcriptional and translational activities and that the transcripts represent remnants of stored mRNAs. Recently, the chromatin organization of mat...

T. Schedl (ed.), Germ Cell Development in C. elegans, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 757, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-4015-4_7, © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 Abstract During spermatogenesis, pluripotent germ cells differentiate to become ef fi cient delivery vehicles to the oocyte of paternal DNA. Though male and female germ cells both undergo meiosis to produce hapl...

The commensal microbiota mediates skin barrier integrity and function via its effects on other microbes host cells of the skin. Sebum is a critical component skin’s chemical powerful determinant composition. To investigate relationship between sebaceous gland activity, we studied sebum secretion in germ-free (GF) mice. Compared to specific pathogen-free (SPF) control mice, release GF mice was r...

Mammalian sperm are carriers of not only the paternal genome, but also the paternal epigenome in the forms of DNA methylation, retained histones and noncoding RNAs. Although paternal DNA methylation and histone retention sites have been correlated with protein-coding genes that are critical for preimplantation embryonic development, physiological evidence of an essential role of these epigeneti...

In this review we provide an overview of the components of the spermatozoa playing an important role in reproductive success beyond fertilization, showing the relationship between the integrity of the diverse elements and the development of a healthy offspring. The present knowledge about fish sperm chromatin organization, epigenetic modifications of DNA and histones and sperm-borne RNAs, essen...

The effects of diabetes mellitus include long-term damages, dysfunctions, and failures of various organs. An important complication of diabetes is the disturbance in the male reproductive system. Glucose metabolism is an important event in spermatogenesis. Moreover, glucose metabolism is also important for maintaining basic cell activity, as well as specific functions, such as motility and fert...

Germ cell specification as sperm or oocyte is an ancient cell fate decision, but its molecular regulation is poorly understood. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the FOG-1 and FOG-3 proteins behave genetically as terminal regulators of sperm fate specification. Both are homologous to well-established RNA regulators, suggesting that FOG-1 and FOG-3 specify the sperm fate post-transcriptionally. We pred...

The main role of sperm is the delivery of the paternal genome into the oocyte during fertilisation. However, several lines of evidence have indicated that mammalian spermatozoa contribute more than just their DNA, namely, they also deliver a large range of RNA molecules. Microarray analysis has revealed a complex population of 3000 different kinds of messenger RNA that are delivered to oocytes ...