Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 25, 2026

Stable Isotope In-Vivo Labeling for Mass-Spectrometry Identification of Paternal Metabolites Transferred from Sperm to Oocyte During Fertilization
Published on: June 17, 2025
Epigenetics of the male gamete
1Departments of Surgery (Urology), University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah 84108, USA. douglas.carrell@hsc.utah.edu
Objective:
To review and summarize the current understanding of the epigenetic status of human sperm in regards to protamination, specific localization and modifications of retained histones, and DNA methylation.
Design:
Review of the relevant literature.
Setting:
University-based clinical and research laboratories.
Patient(S):
Fertile and infertile men.
Intervention(S):
None.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Critical review of the literature.
Result(S):
Sperm from normospermic, fertile men have epigenetic modifications consistent with gene "poising" at the promoters of genes involved in development, including the localization of retained histones with bivalent histone modifications and hypomethylation of DNA. These epigenetic marks are altered in some patients with abnormal spermatogenesis, and in some men who exhibit unexplained, altered embryogenesis during IVF therapy.
Conclusion(S):
The sperm epigenome implies a poising of the paternal genome for embryogenesis and a possible role in the establishment of totipotency of the embryo and may help in understanding some causes of reduced fertility and transmission of disease risk.
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