Seminar according to the following program: EPIGENETICS – A COMPARISON OF SOMATIC AND SPERM CELLS CHROMATIN ORGANIZATION

ANNOUNCEMENT

On the 01-th of June, at 12.00 h, in the meeting hall of IBIR, a scientific seminar will take place according to the following program:

EPIGENETICS – A COMPARISON OF SOMATIC AND SPERM CELLS CHROMATIN ORGANIZATION

Assoc. prof. George Miloshev, PhD
Head Laboratory of Yeast Molecular Genetics,
Institute of Molecular Biology “Rumen Tsanev”– BAS
Sofia, Bulgaria

The integrity of sperm DNA is of prime importance for the paternal genetic contribution to normal offspring. It should be emphasized that sperm chromatin is unique and highly specialized. The need for motility requires sperm chromatin to be tightly compacted, which is achieved by histone replacement with protamines. Because of this substitution the epigenetic contributions of sperm chromatin to embryo development have been considered highly limited. However, the perturbed DNA organization in sperm chromatin could have a dramatic negative impact on fetal development. In addition, sperm epigenetic abnormalities have been suspected to be linked to multiple diseases including male infertility and poor embryogenesis.
To shed more light on the issue we have investigated and compared higher-order chromatin organization in normal and pathologically altered sperm cells. The subject of the analysis was the remaining histone quantity, the higher-order chromatin loop organization and the amount of DNA all of which we have compared with the results of successful in vitro conceptions. Our results unambiguously show a connection between the integrity of germ cells’ chromatin and the fertility of the sperm. Therefore, we stress on the fact that the stable transmission of chromatin epigenetic features to future generations is essential for the life of offspring. Moreover, the understanding of the control on these processes has far-reaching implications for human health and reproduction.