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Mammalian Gametes: Molecular Traits Shaping Their Form and Fate
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Mammalian Gametes: Molecular Traits Shaping Their Form and Fate

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 14346

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Pilar Coy

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Murcia, 30071 Murcia, Spain
Interests: mammalian gametes; reproduction; fertilization; embryo development; epigenetics; oviduct; reproductive fluids
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

From their ultrastructure to their epigenetic reprogramming, from their molecular composition to their response to stress or to environmental conditions, gametes are the most amazing cells in an organism. Despite their variety of forms and sizes, they are designed to reach a common fate—fertilization (or maybe not?). The molecular mechanisms behind this role seem to be similar, but occasionally, interspecific differences appear, surprising the scientific community. Today, many secrets remain undiscovered, while, in parallel, the human species is inexorably heading towards a steady decline in fertility rates. Thus, it is more necessary than ever continue researching about the physiology and pathology of gametes; the causes of their genetic and epigenetic alterations; and the methods for diagnosing, preventing, and treating all of the disorders affecting these cells.

Tentative topics:

  1. Is the fertilising sperm different from its partners? Can ultrastructural studies distinguish one each other? Are there molecular traits that can be used as biomarkers?
  2. Are all oocytes designed to be fertilised or are some of them designed to sacrifice themselves for their partners? Can we distinguish one from the other?
  3. How different are sperm DNA methylation patterns between mammalian species? What is the biological meaning of such differences?
  4. How different are oocyte DNA methylation patterns between mammalian species? Which is the biological meaning of such differences?
  5. Oocyte secreted factors, oocyte proteomes, and oocytes mRNA from GV to Met II. How similar are they between species?
  6. Sperm and oocyte response to stress.
  7. Sperm response to in vivo vs. in vitro conditions? Do we really know something about physiological capacitation?
  8. Oocyte adaptation to follicular and oviductal environments.
  9. Sperm and oocyte morphometrical traits: what can we learn from the studies in the different mammals?

Dr. Pilar Coy
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 9297 KiB  
Article
Single-Cell Transcriptomics Analysis of Human Small Antral Follicles
by Xueying Fan, Ioannis Moustakas, Monika Bialecka, Julieta S. del Valle, Arend W. Overeem, Leoni A. Louwe, Gonneke S. K. Pilgram, Lucette A. J. van der Westerlaken, Hailiang Mei and Susana M. Chuva de Sousa Lopes
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(21), 11955; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms222111955 - 04 Nov 2021
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3585
Abstract
Human ovarian folliculogenesis is a highly regulated and complex process. Characterization of follicular cell signatures during this dynamic process is important to understand follicle fate (to grow, become dominant, or undergo atresia). The transcriptional signature of human oocytes and granulosa cells (GCs) in [...] Read more.
Human ovarian folliculogenesis is a highly regulated and complex process. Characterization of follicular cell signatures during this dynamic process is important to understand follicle fate (to grow, become dominant, or undergo atresia). The transcriptional signature of human oocytes and granulosa cells (GCs) in early-growing and ovulatory follicles have been previously described; however, that of oocytes with surrounding GCs in small antral follicles have not been studied yet. Here, we have generated a unique dataset of single-cell transcriptomics (SmartSeq2) consisting of the oocyte with surrounding GCs from several individual (non-dominant) small antral follicles isolated from adult human ovaries. We have identified two main types of (healthy) follicles, with a distinct oocyte and GC signature. Using the CellphoneDB algorithm, we then investigated the bi-directional ligand–receptor interactions regarding the transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ)/bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), wingless-type (MMTV)-integration site (WNT), NOTCH, and receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) signaling pathways between oocyte and GCs within each antral follicle type. Our work not only revealed the diversity of small antral follicles, but also contributes to fill the gap in mapping the molecular landscape of human folliculogenesis and oogenesis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mammalian Gametes: Molecular Traits Shaping Their Form and Fate)
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14 pages, 969 KiB  
Article
FISH and Chimps: Insights into Frequency and Distribution of Sperm Aneuploidy in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
by Charlotte Guyot, Marlène Gandula, Wendy Noordermeer, Céline François-Brazier, Rosemary Moigno, Julien Bessonnat, Sophie Brouillet, Magali Dhellemmes, Marie Bidart, Christophe Arnoult, Véronique Satre, Charles Coutton and Guillaume Martinez
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(19), 10383; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms221910383 - 27 Sep 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2085
Abstract
Numerical chromosomal aberrations in sperm are considered to be a major factor in infertility, early pregnancy loss and syndromes with developmental and cognitive disabilities in mammals, including primates. Despite numerous studies in human and farm animals, the incidence and importance of sperm aneuploidies [...] Read more.
Numerical chromosomal aberrations in sperm are considered to be a major factor in infertility, early pregnancy loss and syndromes with developmental and cognitive disabilities in mammals, including primates. Despite numerous studies in human and farm animals, the incidence and importance of sperm aneuploidies in non-human primate remains mostly undetermined. Here we investigated the incidence and distribution of sperm aneuploidy in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), the species closest to human. We identify evolutionary conserved DNA sequences in human and chimpanzee and selected homologous sub-telomeric regions for all chromosomes to build custom probes and perform sperm-FISH analysis on more than 10,000 sperm nuclei per chromosome. Chimpanzee mean autosomal disomy rate was 0.057 ± 0.02%, gonosomes disomy rate was 0.198% and the total disomy rate was 1.497%. The proportion of X or Y gametes was respectively 49.94% and 50.06% for a ratio of 1.002 and diploidy rate was 0.053%. Our data provide for the first time an overview of aneuploidy in non-human primate sperm and shed new insights into the issues of aneuploidy origins and mechanisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mammalian Gametes: Molecular Traits Shaping Their Form and Fate)
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18 pages, 3720 KiB  
Article
Caput Ligation Renders Immature Mouse Sperm Motile and Capable to Undergo cAMP-Dependent Phosphorylation
by Darya A. Tourzani, Maria A. Battistone, Ana M. Salicioni, Sylvie Breton, Pablo E. Visconti and Maria G. Gervasi
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(19), 10241; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms221910241 - 23 Sep 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2257
Abstract
Mammalian sperm must undergo two post-testicular processes to become fertilization-competent: maturation in the male epididymis and capacitation in the female reproductive tract. While caput epididymal sperm are unable to move and have not yet acquired fertilization potential, sperm in the cauda epididymis have [...] Read more.
Mammalian sperm must undergo two post-testicular processes to become fertilization-competent: maturation in the male epididymis and capacitation in the female reproductive tract. While caput epididymal sperm are unable to move and have not yet acquired fertilization potential, sperm in the cauda epididymis have completed their maturation, can move actively, and have gained the ability to undergo capacitation in the female tract or in vitro. Due to the impossibility of mimicking sperm maturation in vitro, the molecular pathways underlying this process remain largely unknown. We aimed to investigate the use of caput epididymal ligation as a tool for the study of sperm maturation in mice. Our results indicate that after seven days of ligation, caput sperm gained motility and underwent molecular changes comparable with those observed for cauda mature sperm. Moreover, ligated caput sperm were able to activate pathways related to sperm capacitation. Despite these changes, ligated caput sperm were unable to fertilize in vitro. Our results suggest that transit through the epididymis is not required for the acquisition of motility and some capacitation-associated signaling but is essential for full epididymal maturation. Caput epididymal ligation is a useful tool for the study of the molecular pathways involved in the acquisition of sperm motility during maturation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mammalian Gametes: Molecular Traits Shaping Their Form and Fate)
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23 pages, 8813 KiB  
Article
Culture Medium and Sex Drive Epigenetic Reprogramming in Preimplantation Bovine Embryos
by Sebastian Canovas, Elena Ivanova, Meriem Hamdi, Fernando Perez-Sanz, Dimitrios Rizos, Gavin Kelsey and Pilar Coy
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(12), 6426; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms22126426 - 15 Jun 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2812
Abstract
Assisted reproductive technologies impact transcriptome and epigenome of embryos and can result in long-term phenotypic consequences. Whole-genome DNA methylation profiles from individual bovine blastocysts in vivo- and in vitro-derived (using three sources of protein: reproductive fluids, blood serum and bovine serum albumin) were [...] Read more.
Assisted reproductive technologies impact transcriptome and epigenome of embryos and can result in long-term phenotypic consequences. Whole-genome DNA methylation profiles from individual bovine blastocysts in vivo- and in vitro-derived (using three sources of protein: reproductive fluids, blood serum and bovine serum albumin) were generated. The impact of in vitro culture on DNA methylation was analyzed, and sex-specific methylation differences at blastocyst stage were uncovered. In vivo embryos showed the highest levels of methylation (29.5%), close to those produced in vitro with serum, whilst embryos produced in vitro with reproductive fluids or albumin showed less global methylation (25–25.4%). During repetitive element analysis, the serum group was the most affected. DNA methylation differences between in vivo and in vitro groups were more frequent in the first intron than in CpGi in promoters. Moreover, hierarchical cluster analysis showed that sex produced a stronger bias in the results than embryo origin. For each group, distance between male and female embryos varied, with in vivo blastocyst showing a lesser distance. Between the sexually dimorphic methylated tiles, which were biased to X-chromosome, critical factors for reproduction, developmental process, cell proliferation and DNA methylation machinery were included. These results support the idea that blastocysts show sexually-dimorphic DNA methylation patterns, and the known picture about the blastocyst methylome should be reconsidered. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mammalian Gametes: Molecular Traits Shaping Their Form and Fate)
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Review

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15 pages, 658 KiB  
Review
Programming of Embryonic Development
by Carl R. Dahlen, Pawel P. Borowicz, Alison K. Ward, Joel S. Caton, Marta Czernik, Luca Palazzese, Pasqualino Loi and Lawrence P. Reynolds
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(21), 11668; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms222111668 - 28 Oct 2021
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2725
Abstract
Assisted reproductive techniques (ART) and parental nutritional status have profound effects on embryonic/fetal and placental development, which are probably mediated via “programming” of gene expression, as reflected by changes in their epigenetic landscape. Such epigenetic changes may underlie programming of growth, development, and [...] Read more.
Assisted reproductive techniques (ART) and parental nutritional status have profound effects on embryonic/fetal and placental development, which are probably mediated via “programming” of gene expression, as reflected by changes in their epigenetic landscape. Such epigenetic changes may underlie programming of growth, development, and function of fetal organs later in pregnancy and the offspring postnatally, and potentially lead to long-term changes in organ structure and function in the offspring as adults. This latter concept has been termed developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), or simply developmental programming, which has emerged as a major health issue in animals and humans because it is associated with an increased risk of non-communicable diseases in the offspring, including metabolic, behavioral, and reproductive dysfunction. In this review, we will briefly introduce the concept of developmental programming and its relationship to epigenetics. We will then discuss evidence that ART and periconceptual maternal and paternal nutrition may lead to epigenetic alterations very early in pregnancy, and how each pregnancy experiences developmental programming based on signals received by and from the dam. Lastly, we will discuss current research on strategies designed to overcome or minimize the negative consequences or, conversely, to maximize the positive aspects of developmental programming. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mammalian Gametes: Molecular Traits Shaping Their Form and Fate)
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