Organization of chromosomes in spermatozoa: an additional layer of epigenetic information?
- 22 May 2007
- journal article
- Published by Portland Press Ltd. in Biochemical Society Transactions
- Vol. 35 (3), 609-611
- https://doi.org/10.1042/bst0350609
Abstract
Elaborate non-random organization of human sperm chromosomes at different structural levels, starting from the DNA packing by protamines up to the higher-order chromosome configuration and nuclear positioning of chromosome territories, has been discovered. Here, we put forward a hypothesis that the unique genome architecture in sperm provides a mechanism for orchestrated unpacking and ordered activation of the male genome during fertilization, thus offering an additional level of epigenetic information that will be deciphered in the descendant cells.Keywords
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