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INVITED RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT
Year : 2015  |  Volume : 17  |  Issue : 4  |  Page : 610-615

A model for the control of DNA integrity by the sperm nuclear matrix

Joanna E Gawecka1, Jordi Ribas-Maynou2, Jordi Benet3, W Steven Ward4
1 Clinical and Translational Research Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI, USA
2 Cell Biology Unit, Cell Biology, Phisiology and Immunology Department, Medicine Faculty, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona; Center of Male Infertility and Analysis, de Barcelona, Edifici Eureka, PBM5, Parc de Recerca de la UAB, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
3 Center of Male Infertility and Analysis, de Barcelona, Edifici Eureka, PBM5, Parc de Recerca de la UAB, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
4 Institute for Biogenesis Research, Department of Anatomy, Biochemistry and Physiology; Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA

Correspondence Address:
W Steven Ward
Institute for Biogenesis Research, Department of Anatomy, Biochemistry and Physiology; Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822
USA
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/1008-682X.153853

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The highly condensed chromatin of mammalian spermatozoa is usually considered to be biologically inert before fertilization. However, we have demonstrated that even in this compacted state, sperm chromatin is subject to degradation at open configurations associated with the nuclear matrix through a process we have termed sperm chromatin fragmentation (SCF). This suggests that a mechanism exists to monitor the health of spermatozoa during transit through the male reproductive tract and to destroy the genome of defective sperm cells. The site of DNA damage in SCF, the matrix attachment sites, are the same that we hypothesize initiate DNA synthesis in the zygote. When sperm that have damaged DNA are injected into the oocyte, the newly created zygote responds by delaying DNA synthesis in the male pronucleus and, if the damage is severe enough, arresting the embryo's development. Here we present a model for paternal DNA regulation by the nuclear matrix that begins during sperm maturation and continues through early embryonic development.


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