Mapping of histone-binding sites in histone replacement-completed spermatozoa.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30250204.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-06243-9 and PMC identifier 6155156.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The majority of histones are replaced by protamines during spermatogenesis, but small amounts are retained in mammalian spermatozoa. Since nucleosomes in spermatozoa influence epigenetic inheritance, it is important to know how histones are distributed in the sperm genome. Conflicting data, which may result from different conditions used for micrococcal nuclease (MNase) digestion, have been reported: retention of nucleosomes at either gene promoter regions or within distal gene-poor regions. Here, we find that the swim-up sperm used in many studies contain about 10% population of sperm which have not yet completed the histone-to-protamine replacement. We develop a method to purify histone replacement-completed sperm (HRCS) and to completely solubilize histones from cross-linked HRCS without MNase digestion. Our results indicate that histones are retained at specific promoter regions in HRCS. This method allows the study of epigenetic status in mature sperm.
Medical subject headings
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
- Histones
- Protamines
- Spermatogenesis
- Spermatozoa