Establishment and functions of DNA methylation in the germline

Kathleen Stewart-Morgan, Lenka Veselovska, Gavin Kelsey*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalReviewResearchpeer-review

    131 Citations (Scopus)
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    Abstract

    Epigenetic modifications established during gametogenesis regulate transcription and other nuclear processes in gametes, but also have influences in the zygote, embryo and postnatal life. This is best understood for DNA methylation which, established at discrete regions of the oocyte and sperm genomes, governs genomic imprinting. In this review, we describe how imprinting has informed our understanding of de novo DNA methylation mechanisms, highlight how recent genome-wide profiling studies have provided unprecedented insights into establishment of the sperm and oocyte methylomes and consider the fate and function of gametic methylation and other epigenetic modifications after fertilization.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalEpigenomics
    Volume8
    Issue number10
    Pages (from-to)1399-1413
    Number of pages15
    ISSN1750-1911
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2016

    Keywords

    • DNA methylation
    • embryo
    • imprinting
    • oogenesis
    • spermatogenesis
    • transgenerational inheritance

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