The Role of Epigenetic On Infertility

The term Epigenetics denotes reversible patterns of gene ex-pression that do not include alterations to the DNA sequence. Epigenetic alterations are responsible for chromatin structure stability, genome integrity, modulation of tissue-specific gene expression and embryonic development. One notable feature in epigenetics is that all epigenetic modifications are reversible and dynamic . So these reversible alterations can cause to a selective utilization of genome information, through activation/ inactivation of the functional genes during gametogenesis and embryogenesis which ultimately leads to a successful fertility. While the global epigenetic patterns remain precisely stable through somatic cell divisions (the phenomenon termed as Epigenetic Memory ), during gametogenesis and initial em-bryo development, these patterns have widespread variations and are highly susceptible to the influence of environmental and in vitro conditions. Thus, parallel to studying the epigenetic aspects of male/female infertility, identification of epigenetic markers related to gamete and embryo quality sounds critical for optimization of new protocols that increase the efficacy of different Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ARTs); although genetic/epigenetic backgrounds of the couples referring to ART centers are of major objectives needs to be considered as well. With the brief aforementioned background, making more and more allowance for the role of epigenetic on infertility will help us to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic tools for improv-ing the efficiency and safety of fertility.

کلیدواژه ها:

Epigenetics ، Infertility ، ART