Clínic Barcelona

The Functions of Spermatozoa go Beyond Transmission of the Paternal Genome

According to an article published in the journal Proteomics (9(4):1004-17), certain human spermatozoon nuclear proteins associated with chromatin have epigenetic potential. This means that it may play a key role in the activation of some genes during initial embryonic development. The study was carried out by Dr. Rafael Oliva and Dr. Sara Mateo of the IDIBAPS-Hospital Clínic Human Genetics Research group, and Dr. Josep María Estanyol of the proteomics unit of the faculty of medicine at the University of Barcelona.