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Grant support

This work was supported by grants to RO from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad; FEDER BFU 2009-07118 and PI13/00699). JC was supported by a fellowship from the University of Barcelona (APIF). MS-based proteomic analyses of protamines were conducted at the Proteomic Unit of the Scientific and Technological Centres of the University of Barcelona (CCiTUB), a member of the ProteoRed network (http://www.proteored.org), by Dr. Maria Jose Fidalgo.

Analysis of institutional authors

Castillo Corullón, JuditAuthor or co-author of article in journal with external admissions assessment committeeOliva, RCorresponding Author

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Review

Human sperm chromatin epigenetic potential: genomics, proteomics, and male infertility

Publicated to:Asian Journal Of Andrology. 17 (4): 601-609 - 2015-07-01 17(4), DOI: 10.4103/1008-682X.153302

Authors: Castillo, Judit; Maria Estanyol, Josep; Lluis Ballesca, Josep; Oliva, Rafael;

Affiliations

Hosp Clin Barcelona, Biomed Diagnost Ctr, Biochem & Mol Genet Serv, E-08036 Barcelona, Spain - Author
Hosp Clin Barcelona, Clin Inst Gynaecol Obstet & Neonatol, E-08036 Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona CCiTUB, Prote Unit, Sci Ctr, Barcelona 08036, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona CCiTUB, Prote Unit, Technol Ctr, Barcelona 08036, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona, Fac Med, Human Genet Res Grp, IDIBAPS, E-08036 Barcelona, Spain - Author
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Abstract

The classical idea about the function of the mammalian sperm chromatin is that it serves to transmit a highly protected and transcriptionally inactive paternal genome, largely condensed by protamines, to the next generation. In addition, recent sperm chromatin genome-wide dissection studies indicate the presence of a differential distribution of the genes and repetitive sequences in the protamine-condensed and histone-condensed sperm chromatin domains, which could be potentially involved in regulatory roles after fertilization. Interestingly, recent proteomic studies have shown that sperm chromatin contains many additional proteins, in addition to the abundant histones and protamines, with specific modifications and chromatin affinity features which are also delivered to the oocyte. Both gene and protein signatures seem to be altered in infertile patients and, as such, are consistent with the potential involvement of the sperm chromatin landscape in early embryo development. This present work reviews the available information on the composition of the human sperm chromatin and its epigenetic potential, with a particular focus on recent results derived from high-throughput genomic and proteomic studies. As a complement, we provide experimental evidence for the detection of phosphorylations and acetylations in human protamine 1 using a mass spectrometry approach. The available data indicate that the sperm chromatin is much more complex than what it was previously thought, raising the possibility that it could also serve to transmit crucial paternal epigenetic information to the embryo.

Keywords

dna-damagegenehistone hyperacetylationmale germlinemale infertilitymammalian spermmarked differencesmousenuclearproteomicssperm chromatinsperm epigeneticsspermatozoaAssisted reproductionDna-damageDrosophila-melanogasterEmbryonic-developmentGenomicsHistone hyperacetylationHuman spermatozoaMale infertilityMammalian spermMouse spermatozoaNuclear proteinsProtamine 2 precursorsProteomicsSperm chromatinSperm epigenetics

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Asian Journal Of Andrology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2015, it was in position 1/5, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Andrology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.93. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 2.18 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 16.53 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-15, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 49
  • Scopus: 70
  • Europe PMC: 22
  • OpenCitations: 69

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-15:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 136.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 136 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 5.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Castillo, J) and Last Author (Oliva Virgili, Rafel).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Oliva Virgili, Rafel.