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Sperm granules mediate epigenetic inheritance

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Epigenetic inheritance is the transfer of non-DNA information across generations. A new study identifies sperm-specific PEI granules as essential for paternal epigenetic inheritance. PEI granule partitioning to sperm requires palmitoylation and myosin VI activity, suggesting lipidation-dependent granule transport on vesicles.

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Fig. 1: Membrane-tethered PEI granules partition to spermatids to mediate paternal epigenetic inheritance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. HHMI and Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Laura Thomas & Geraldine Seydoux

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  1. Laura Thomas
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  2. Geraldine Seydoux
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Correspondence to Geraldine Seydoux.

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Competing interests

G.S. serves on the scientific advisory board for Dewpoint Therapeutics. L.T. declares no competing interests.

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Thomas, L., Seydoux, G. Sperm granules mediate epigenetic inheritance. Nat Cell Biol 24, 129–130 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-021-00832-5

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