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New Advances in Germ Cell Research
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New Advances in Germ Cell Research

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2025 | Viewed by 1232

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Sheng-Hsiang Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Medical Research, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Tamsui District, New Taipei 251, Taiwan
Interests: spermatogenesis; sperm capacitatio; cumulus cells

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Germ cell research is a crucial topic in biology and medicine, including the study of gametes such as sperm and eggs. These studies involve not only animal models but also human reproductive cells. For example, researchers can explore the process of sperm development from genesis to maturation and the mechanisms of capacitation and fertilization in the female reproductive tract. Furthermore, scientists are working on identifying biomarker molecules in sperm that may help predict fertilization, miscarriage, or live birth.

Oocyte competence is another important research direction. Cumulus cells play a critical role in the oocyte maturation process, and researchers are investigating the relationship between cumulus cell gene expression and oocyte quality and searching for gene biomarkers associated with cumulus cell and oocyte maturation.

Overall, germ cell research covers the entire process from gamete development and maturation to fertilization, as well as the related molecular mechanisms and biomarkers. These studies not only contribute to deepening our understanding of reproductive biology but may also provide new insights and tools for diagnosing and treating infertility. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to conduct in-depth explorations in this field and share their latest findings.

Dr. Sheng-Hsiang Li
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.

Keywords

  • spermatogenesis
  • sperm capacitation
  • oogenesis
  • oocyte maturation
  • cumulus cells
  • fertilization
  • gene expression
  • biomarkers
  • exosomes
  • infertility

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3854 KiB  
Article
rDNA Copy Number Variation and Methylation in Human and Mouse Sperm
by Ramya Potabattula, Marcus Dittrich, Thomas Hahn, Martin Schorsch, Grazyna Ewa Ptak and Thomas Haaf
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(9), 4197; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26094197 - 28 Apr 2025
Viewed by 141
Abstract
In this study, droplet digital PCR and deep bisulfite sequencing were used to study the absolute and active rDNA copy number (CN) and the effect of paternal age on human and mouse sperm. The absolute CN ranged from 98 to 404 (219 ± [...] Read more.
In this study, droplet digital PCR and deep bisulfite sequencing were used to study the absolute and active rDNA copy number (CN) and the effect of paternal age on human and mouse sperm. The absolute CN ranged from 98 to 404 (219 ± 47) in human and from 98 to 177 (133 ± 14) in mouse sperm. Methylation of the human upstream control element/core promoter (UCE/CP) region and the 5′ external transcribed spacer, as well as that of the mouse CP, the spacer promoter, and 28S rDNA, significantly increased with donor age and absolute CN. Overall, rDNA hypomethylation was much more pronounced in mouse sperm, with 101.7 ± 11.4 copies showing a completely (0%) unmethylated and 11.3 ± 2.8 (8.5%) a slightly methylated (1–10%) CP region, compared to humans with 25.7 ± 9.5 (12%) completely unmethylated and 83.0 ± 19.8 slightly methylated UCE/CP regions. Although the absolute CN was much higher in human sperm, the number of copies with a hypomethylated (0–10%) promoter was comparable in humans (108.7 ± 28.3) and mice (113.0 ± 12.2). However, in mice, the majority (77%) of all copies were completely unmethylated, whereas in humans a high percentage (38%) showed one or two single CpG methylation errors. These different germline methylation dynamics may be due to species differences in reproductive strategies and lifespan. Complete demethylation of the sperm rDNA promoter in mice may be essential for embryonic genome activation, which already occurs at the 2-cell stage in mice and at the 4–8-cell stage in humans. The paternal age effect has been conserved between humans and mice with some notable differences. In humans, the number of hypomethylated (0–10%) copies decreased with age, whereas in mice only the completely unmethylated copies decreased with age. The number of methylated rDNA copies (>1% in mice and >10% in humans) significantly increased with age. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Germ Cell Research)
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11 pages, 3320 KiB  
Article
Cyclic AMP Rescue of Motility in Sperm Devoid of Soluble Adenylyl Cyclase
by Sylvia Ayoub, Natalia del R. Rivera Sanchez, Justine Fischoeder, Melanie Balbach, Lonny R. Levin, Jochen Buck and Carla Ritagliati
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(4), 1489; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26041489 - 11 Feb 2025
Viewed by 684
Abstract
The second messenger cAMP plays multiple critical roles in the control of sperm functions essential for male fertility, including motility. The enzyme soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC; ADCY10) was shown genetically and pharmacologically to be the essential source of cAMP mediating many of these [...] Read more.
The second messenger cAMP plays multiple critical roles in the control of sperm functions essential for male fertility, including motility. The enzyme soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC; ADCY10) was shown genetically and pharmacologically to be the essential source of cAMP mediating many of these functions. Male mice and men with genetic deletions of sAC are infertile, and their sperm are progressively immotile. Pharmacologically, delivery of potent and specific sAC inhibitors to male mice renders them temporarily infertile, and their sperm are similarly immotile. Here, we show that males from a second, independently derived mouse sAC knockout line are also infertile with progressively immotile sperm. We use these mouse models to determine optimal conditions for pharmacologically elevating intracellular cAMP to rescue the sAC null motility defect. We show that cell-permeable cAMP analogs, but not forskolin, rescue the motility defects of sAC deficient sperm, and we demonstrate that 8Br-cAMP is an efficient cAMP analog to rescue motility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Germ Cell Research)
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