Paternally-transmitted chromosomal damage has been associated with...developmental...defects...and genetic diseases in the offspring including cancer

Birth Defects Research Part C - Embryo Today: Reviews
Volume 75, Issue 2, June 2005, Pages 112-129



This article has been cited 5 times in Scopus:
(Showing the 2 most recent)
Adler, I.-D. , Carere, A. , Eichenlaub-Ritter, U.
Gender differences in the induction of chromosomal aberrations and gene mutations in rodent germ cells
(2007) Environmental Research


Delbes, G. , Hales, B.F. , Robaire, B.
Effects of the chemotherapy cocktail used to treat testicular cancer on sperm chromatin integrity
(2007) Journal of Andrology


DOI: 10.1002/bdrc.20040
Document Type: Review



Mechanisms and consequences of paternally-transmitted chromosomal abnormalities

Marchetti, F., Wyrobek, A.J.

Biosciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, United States


Abstract

Paternally-transmitted chromosomal damage has been associated with pregnancy loss, developmental and morphological defects, infant mortality, infertility, and genetic diseases in the offspring, including cancer. There is epidemiological evidence linking paternal exposure to occupational or environmental agents with an increased risk of abnormal reproductive outcomes. There is also a large body of literature on germ cell mutagenesis in rodents showing that treatment of male germ cells with mutagens has dramatic consequences on reproduction, producing effects such as those observed in human epidemiological studies. However, we know very little about the etiology, transmission, and early embryonic consequences of paternally-derived chromosomal abnormalities. The available evidence suggests that: 1) there are distinct patterns of germ cell-stage differences in the sensitivity of induction of transmissible genetic damage, with male postmeiotic cells being the most sensitive; 2) cytogenetic abnormalities at first metaphase after fertilization are critical intermediates between paternal exposure and abnormal reproductive outcomes; and 3) there are maternal susceptibility factors that may have profound effects on the amount of sperm DNA damage that is converted into chromosomal aberrations in the zygote and that directly affect the risk for abnormal reproductive outcomes. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.