Skip Navigation


Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on January 23, 2008
Human Reproduction 2008 23(3):627-634; doi:10.1093/humrep/dem406
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF )
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
23/3/627    most recent
dem406v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Fulka, H.
Right arrow Articles by Fulka, J.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Fulka, H.
Right arrow Articles by Fulka, J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Epigenetic analysis of human spermatozoa after their injection into ovulated mouse oocytes

Helena Fulka1,2, Irena Barnetova3, Tibor Mosko3 and Josef Fulka1,4

1 Center for Cell Therapy and Tissue Repair, VUZV Laboratories, PO Box 1, CS-104 01 Prague 10, Czech Republic 2 Institute of Molecular Genetics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Videnska 1083, CS-142 20 Prague 4, Czech Republic 3 Institute of Animal Science, CS-104 01 Prague 10, Czech Republic

4 Correspondence address. Tel: +420-267-009-606; Fax: +420-267-710-779; E-mail: fulka{at}vuzv.cz

BACKGROUND: The epigenetic status of human spermatozoa is difficult to analyse. The method of interspecies fertilization can be used for different purposes. The aim of our work was to adopt this approach for the detailed analysis of epigenetic status of human spermatozoa injected into mouse oocytes.

METHODS: Human spermatozoa were injected into ovulated mouse oocytes. When both parental pronuclei were formed, the zygotes were fixed and labeled with antibodies against histones methylated or acetylated at different positions (residues).

RESULTS: Our results show that human spermatozoa injected into mouse oocytes fully respond to oocyte cytoplasmic factors and form analysable pronuclei. The labeling of zygotes showed that as in other species, the paternal chromatin is extensively epigenetically remodeled.

CONCLUSIONS: The interspecies ICSI may be a powerful tool for the analysis of sperm epigenetic status even with a very low number of spermatozoa available. This analysis could be used as an additional approach for the assessment of certain forms of human infertility, as well as for testing the normality of male gametes obtained from embryonic stem cells.

Key words: spermatozoa/epigenetics/chromatin/acetylation/methylation

Submitted on May 25, 2006; resubmitted on November 25, 2007; accepted on December 4, 2007.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.