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Organization of Chromosomes in Human Sperm Nucleus

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Abstract

Chromosomes in the human sperm nucleus adopt a hierarchy of structures starting from protamine toroids, the elementary units of DNA packaging, and up to the higher-order organization of chromosome territories. Nonrandom intranuclear positioning of individual chromosomes, with centromeres aggregated in the internally located chromocenter and preferential location of telomeres at the nuclear periphery, suggests a highly defined architecture of the sperm nucleus at the level of genome. Such an ordered chromatin organization in the sperm nucleus may have a functional significance and determine the onset of paternal gene activity at early stages of embryonic development. This chapter describes relevant experimental data with primary attention to studies of human spermatozoa and discusses the implications of sperm chromosome organization for male reproductive health.

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Abbreviations

CHR:

Chromosome

CT:

Chromosome territory

FISH:

Fluorescence in situ hybridization

ICSI:

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection

MSCI:

Meiotic sex chromosome inactivation

MSUC:

Meiotic silencing of unsynapsed chromatin

WCP:

Whole chromosome painting probe

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Maria Svetlova for her valuable comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by RFBR grant 12-04-01489-a.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tikhoretsky Avenue 4, St. Petersburg, 194064, Russia

    Olga S. Mudrak, Liudmila V. Solovjeva & Vadim O. Chagin

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  1. Olga S. Mudrak
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  2. Liudmila V. Solovjeva
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  3. Vadim O. Chagin
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Correspondence to Olga S. Mudrak .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mental Health Research Center, Laboratory of Cytogenetics, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, 2 Zagorodnoe, Moscow, 119152, Russia

    Yuri B. Yurov

  2. Institute of Pediatry & Children Surgery, Laboratory of Molecular Cytogenetics of, Ministry of Health, str. 2 Taldomskaya, Moscow, 127417, Russia

    Svetlana G. Vorsanova

  3. Mental Health Research Center, Laboratory of Molecular Brain Genetics, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, sh. 2 Zagorodnoe, Moscow, 119152, Russia

    Ivan Y. Iourov

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Mudrak, O.S., Solovjeva, L.V., Chagin, V.O. (2013). Organization of Chromosomes in Human Sperm Nucleus. In: Yurov, Y., Vorsanova, S., Iourov, I. (eds) Human Interphase Chromosomes. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6558-4_8

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