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Sperm Chromatin Compaction and Male Infertility

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Male Infertility: Understanding, Causes and Treatment

Abstract

Nucleosome, the fundamental unit of chromatin, is histone octamer composed of dimers of each histone H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. Histones are the key epigenetic players and regulate chromatin architecture. During later stages of spermatogenesis, extensive remodeling of chromatin takes place in which somatic histones get replaced by testis-specific histones, which in turn get replaced by transition proteins and finally by protamines. Disturbances that impair this highly orchestrated process may result in loose DNA packing, endangering its integrity. This reflects on sperm morphology and motility, resulting in teratozoospermia and asthenozoospermia and consequently infertility. These sperm are unable to reach the oocyte and, if they do, fail to fertilize. Assisted fertilization in the form of IVF or ICSI may help overcome this hindrance; however, the risk of failure at early embryonic developmental stages or preimplantation loss increases dramatically. This review provides an update on our current understanding of the role of sperm chromatin compaction in sperm function and the impact of its failure on male fertility.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge with gratitude the research contributions of all the authors whose work has been cited in this review (IR/394/07-2016). We also thank Mr. Vivian Lobo, a graduate student from my laboratory, for his inputs with the figures and Mr. Vaibhav Shinde for his help with the graphic design. We thank the Department of Biotechnology, India for the Junior Research Fellowship to Mr Aniket Patankar.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gamete Immunobiology, National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Aniket Patankar & Priyanka Parte

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  1. Aniket Patankar
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  2. Priyanka Parte
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Correspondence to Priyanka Parte .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Endocrinology Division, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

    RAJENDER SINGH

  2. Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Kiran Singh

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Patankar, A., Parte, P. (2017). Sperm Chromatin Compaction and Male Infertility. In: SINGH, R., Singh, K. (eds) Male Infertility: Understanding, Causes and Treatment. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4017-7_17

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