Reproductive genomics of the mouse: implications for human fertility and infertility.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-15-2023
Original Citation
Garretson A,
Dumont B,
Handel M.
Reproductive genomics of the mouse: implications for human fertility and infertility. Development. 2023;150(4).
Keywords
JMG, Humans, Male, Mice, Animals, Semen, Infertility, Fertility, Reproduction, Genomics, Mammals
JAX Source
Development. 2023;150(4).
ISSN
1477-9129
PMID
36779988
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.201313
Grant
A.G. is supported by the Tufts University Graduate School of Biomedical Science’s Provost Award, an Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group for High Performance Computing Computational and Data Science Fellowship, and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under grant 1842474. B.L.D. is supported by a National Science Foundation CAREER Award (DEB 1942620).
Abstract
Genetic analyses of mammalian gametogenesis and fertility have the potential to inform about two important and interrelated clinical areas: infertility and contraception. Here, we address the genetics and genomics underlying gamete formation, productivity and function in the context of reproductive success in mammalian systems, primarily mouse and human. Although much is known about the specific genes and proteins required for meiotic processes and sperm function, we know relatively little about other gametic determinants of overall fertility, such as regulation of gamete numbers, duration of gamete production, and gamete selection and function in fertilization. As fertility is not a binary trait, attention is now appropriately focused on the oligogenic, quantitative aspects of reproduction. Multiparent mouse populations, created by complex crossing strategies, exhibit genetic diversity similar to human populations and will be valuable resources for genetic discovery, helping to overcome current limitations to our knowledge of mammalian reproductive genetics. Finally, we discuss how what we know about the genomics of reproduction can ultimately be brought to the clinic, informing our concepts of human fertility and infertility, and improving assisted reproductive technologies.