Sperm Methylation Profiles Reveal Features of Epigenetic Inheritance and Evolution in Primates

Molaro, A., Hodges, E., Fang, F., Song, Q., McCombie, W. R., Hannon, G. J., Smith, A. D. (September 2011) Sperm Methylation Profiles Reveal Features of Epigenetic Inheritance and Evolution in Primates. Cell, 146 (6). pp. 1029-1041. ISSN 0092-8674 (Public Dataset)

URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21925323
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2011.08.016

Abstract

Summary During germ cell and preimplantation development, mammalian cells undergo nearly complete reprogramming of DNA methylation patterns. We profiled the methylomes of human and chimp sperm as a basis for comparison to methylation patterns of ESCs. Although the majority of promoters escape methylation in both ESCs and sperm, the corresponding hypomethylated regions show substantial structural differences. Repeat elements are heavily methylated in both germ and somatic cells; however, retrotransposons from several subfamilies evade methylation more effectively during male germ cell development, whereas other subfamilies show the opposite trend. Comparing methylomes of human and chimp sperm revealed a subset of differentially methylated promoters and strikingly divergent methylation in retrotransposon subfamilies, with an evolutionary impact that is apparent in the underlying genomic sequence. Thus, the features that determine DNA methylation patterns differ between male germ cells and somatic cells, and elements of these features have diverged between humans and chimpanzees.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > DNA methylation
organism description > animal > mammal > primates > hominids > human
organism description > animal > mammal
organism description > animal > mammal > primates
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL Cancer Center Shared Resources > Bioinformatics Service
CSHL Cancer Center Shared Resources > DNA Sequencing Service
CSHL labs > Hannon lab
CSHL labs > McCombie lab
CSHL Cancer Center Program > Cancer Genetics
Depositing User: CSHL Librarian
Date: 16 September 2011
Date Deposited: 13 Oct 2011 15:50
Last Modified: 14 Oct 2015 19:44
PMCID: PMC3205962
Related URLs:
Dataset ID:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/15559

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