Maternal inheritance of the mouse mitochondrial genome is not mediated by a loss or gross alteration of the paternal mitochondrial DNA or by methylation of the oocyte mitochondrial DNA

Is paternal mitochondrial DNA transferred to the offspring following intracytoplasmic sperm injection?

“…Since more than 500 children have been born so far as a result of our ICSI program, there is naturally a possibility to expand the study group. However, we feel that a more interesting group to investigate in this connection is couples in whom epididymaI and testicular spermatozoa (30 children born in Grteborg) have been utilized, since the number of mitochondria in this type of spermatozoa is higher (15). Another group of interest for the future might be children born after utilization of spermatids for fertilization since the spermatids contain an even higher number of mitochondria (15).…”

“…However, we feel that a more interesting group to investigate in this connection is couples in whom epididymaI and testicular spermatozoa (30 children born in Grteborg) have been utilized, since the number of mitochondria in this type of spermatozoa is higher (15). Another group of interest for the future might be children born after utilization of spermatids for fertilization since the spermatids contain an even higher number of mitochondria (15). In conclusion, it must, however, be emphasized that the presence of paternal mtDNA per se does not lead to defects or diseases in the offspring, at least not in a short-term perspective.…”

A multi-faceted approach to understanding male infertility: gene mutations, molecular defects and assisted reproductive techniques (ART)

“…Recent reports have shown that mtDNA point mutations or multiple deletions, mtDNA single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and mtDNA haplogroups can greatly influence sperm quality and are associated with asthenozoospermia or oligoasthenozoospermia [128][129][130][131][132][133][134][135][136][137][138]. Among the mitochondrial deletions observed, the deletion of 4977 bp was the most prevalent and abundant one.…”

Lost in the zygote: the dilution of paternal mtDNA upon fertilization

“…Gametes of mice were estimated to contain 10-75 and 1.6 Â 10 5 mtDNA molecules per single sperm and oocyte, respectively (Hecht et al, 1984;Shitara et al, 2000;Steuerwald et al, 2000). Human sperm were estimated to contain 1.4-6.8 molecules (MayPanloup et al, 2003;Amaral et al, 2007) and oocytes 1.93-7.95 Â 10 5 mtDNAs (Steuerwald et al, 2000;Reynier et al, 2001;Barritt et al, 2002;Chan et al, 2005;May-Panloup et al, 2005a;Santos et al, 2006).…”