In spermatozoa, DNA damages, strand breakage, or base alteration may result from (1) Faulty compaction/protamination of DNA
[205][13]; (2) Abortive apoptosis, or “anastasis”, in late spermiogenesis
[206][14]; (3) Oxidative stress
[207][15]; (4) Persistence of enzymatic DNA breaks induce during chromatin remodelling. The contribution of each to sperm DNA damages is still unknown but it becomes clear that an elevated number of DNA breaks is associated with male infertility
[208][16] or with impaired development of the early embryo. Chromatin remodelling in spermatids leads to the replacement of 90–95% of histones by protamines
[209][17]. During the eviction of histones, it is assumed that free DNA supercoils are formed that can be eliminated by the action of topoisomerases
[210][18]. Potential hindrance of topoisomerases catalytic cycle in this context may lead to SSBs in the case of topoisomerase I, or DSBs in the case of a topoisomerase II activity. A possibility also exists that mechanical breaks resulting from the major chromatin remodelling can also be created. Protamination itself can induce damage
[211,212][19][20] as the PRM1/PRM2 ratio can impact proper DNA packaging
[209,211,213][17][19][21].
WThe researche
rs, however, generated evidence that DSBs were indeed generated during this process in the whole cell population and harbour a 3′ OH so is consistent with endonuclease digestion. In this haploid context, only direct end ligation repair mechanisms such as NHEJ are expected
[214][22]. Although apoptosis was shown to maintain the germ cell vs Sertoli cell ratio
[215[23][24],
216], canonical apoptosis may not be responsible for the transient DNA breaks shown in spermatids as these are observed in 100% of spermatids. This could represent an “apoptosis-like” reversible mechanism that is reminiscent of “anastasis”, or the recovery from apoptosis described recently
[217][25]. Various degrees of recovery, or repairs, would then modulate the persistence of DNA breaks in the mature sperm. At other spermatogenesis steps, DSBs could be linked to the altered balance of anti and pro-apoptotic factors through different steps of spermatogenesis
[218][26] and to the compartmentalisation of the mitochondria which prevents nucleus-organelles exchanges. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are a common source of DNA damage. ROS create abasic sites, base modifications, inter-strand crosslinking, and both single and double-strand breaks. However, ROS are essential for some sperm functions including capacitation or acrosome formation and are produced in the sperm mitochondria
[219,220][27][28]. Sperm and white blood cells are the main sources of ROS in semen. Sperm cells are very sensitive to ROS because of their high content in unsaturated fatty acids and their weak DNA repair activity
[207,219][15][27]. Antioxidants appear to balance a high level of ROS
[221][29], for this purpose, seminal fluid possesses catalases, superoxide dismutases, and glutathione peroxidases and is rich in vitamins C, E, A, lactoferrin, and Q10. Ultimately, prostasomes can decrease the release of ROS from leukocytes
[222][30]. The relevance of ROS in male infertility is emphasized as 20 to 88% of sub-fertile men show an elevated level of ROS
[223][31].
So far, evidence of NER, BER, SSA, MMR, HR, and NHEJ DNA repair processes has been reported during spermatogenesis.
Important variations in NER activity were reported throughout spermatogenesis. For instance, spermatogonia were shown to be more sensitive to UV than meiotic or post-meiotic cells
[224][32]. 6–4 photoproducts repair activity is also reduced significantly in post-meiotic round spermatids and during aging
[224][32]. This may be linked to a decrease in NER protein expression
[225][33]. Various levels of GG- or TC-NER also exist as 16.8% of CPD are removed from transcribed Scp1 gene within 16 h in rat spermatocytes
[226][34], while 50% of CPD are removed from Dhfr and Dazl transcribed genes in spermatogonia
[224][32]. However, spermatogonia can repair both active and inactive genes on both strands, in contrast to meiotic cells where transcribed genes are repaired. TC-NER is lower in round spermatids than in spermatogonia. These differences may reflect the greater mitotic activity of spermatogonia, and the fact that they are lying outside of the blood-testis barrier and so are potentially more exposed to genotoxins. Chromatin compaction during spermiogenesis may also adversely impact NER
[227][35] as chromatin access is known to hinder NER. NER is therefore present at all stages of the male germ cells differentiation albeit with various efficiency.
OGG1
Hs glycosylase is the only BER factor found in spermatozoa and recognizes 8-oxoG
[219][27]. However, as none of the AP endonucleases exist in spermatozoa, AP sites will likely be processed during the first zygotic mitosis
[219][27].
HR is known for its primary role during meiosis but is also important for DSBs and inter-strand lesions repair in spermatogonia. Outside of meiosis, HR acts in the S and G2 phases of the cell cycle, when sister chromatids are present. HR is obviously absent in haploid spermatids but resumes in the diploid zygote.
In male germ cells, some canonical components of NHEJ are missing resulting in an alternative NHEJ pathway
[228][36]. For instance, Ku70
Hs and 53BP1
Hs are not expressed therefore preventing the DNA-PKc
Hs pathway. PARP-1
Hs and XRCC1
Hs are however expressed in elongating spermatids supporting alt-NHEJ pathway as described by Ahmed et al.
[228][36]. PARP-1
Hs may bind to DSB as a catalytic homodimer bringing together both DNA ends. Then, PARP-1
Hs may recruit the XRCC1
Hsc/DNA ligase III
Hs complex at the DSB site to complete the end-joining.
3.1.2. Oocyte
Since a limited number of oocytes can be retrieved, the DNA damage response in this gamete is studied to a lesser extent. DNA damages arise mainly during the active life of oocytes in prenatal stages, before prophase I arrest, and during recovery from pre-ovulatory meiosis
[229][37].
From the primary oocyte stage to meiosis II and ovulation, oocytes can actively repair DNA
[230][38]. During oogenesis, repair genes are overexpressed, and their mRNA are accumulated to be used in the zygote
[231][39]. NER, BER, MMR, HR or NHEJ repair pathways have been described in oocytes from humans to mice
[231,232,233,234][39][40][41][42]. Proper DNA repair machinery must operate as oocytes undergo chromatin remodelling during fertilisation and early steps of a zygote. Oocytes are diploid cells, that possess homologous chromosomes until meiosis II that arises after fertilisation. Thus, the oocyte is virtually never haploid. The oocyte becomes transiently haploid between meiosis II end and the fusion of parental genomes (syngamy). Thus, following meiosis II, only NHEJ should operate as shown in mice
[235][43], although variations exist between species as rodent oocytes have better DNA repair abilities than primate ones
[232][40]. The repair capacity of the oocyte and mRNA levels for repair proteins also decreases with female age
[236][44]. After fertilisation, syngamy is a critical step since (1) Chromatids from each parent exist in different cellular compartments; (2) Chromatin undergoes major remodelling associated with demethylation; (3) Male derived chromatid is repaired by the oocyte DNA repair machinery
[237][45].
As for spermatogenesis, ROS are produced during oogenesis. ROS production is necessary for folliculogenesis, oocyte maturation, ovulation, and luteal function
[238][46]. Maturation and ovulation are linked to inflammatory processes, characterized by high ROS production
[239][47]. Unlike sperm, oocytes are more resistant to ROS due to an environment rich in antioxidants in the follicular fluid
[240][48]. However, ROS imbalance in the female tract decreases fertility and oocyte quality
[241][49]. In addition to its impact on genetic integrity, oxidative stress is known to alter microtubule function and spindle morphology leading to aneuploidy
[242][50].
In contrast to spermatozoa, OGG1
Hs glycosylase is only weakly expressed in oocytes, as 8-oxoG damages are not present in spermatozoa after fertilization
[243][51]. In many aspects, the early zygote may still be considered as an oocyte since only mRNAs from the oocyte are used up until the 4-cell stage
[244][52]. This “zygotic oocyte” is in charge of repairing DNA damages in spermatozoa but may be overloaded if DNA damages occur in more than 8% of the nucleotide genome amount
[245,246][53][54].
Both the number and the nature of DNA breaks are of concern for fertility. Whereas SSBs are easily repaired as in somatic cells, DSBs can overload the DNA repair capacity of the oocyte. After fertilisation, the persistence of DSBs in spermatozoa will delay DNA replication or can even be lethal for the zygote
[247][55]. Finally, DSBs are mainly repaired by NHEJ during zygote
[214][22], as for somatic cells.