The ART and science of sperm mitophagy

Abstract

This article discusses the historical perspective and the new findings of autophagy and ubiquitin-proteasome system cooperation during the post-fertilization sperm mitophagy, a process that eliminates potentially damaged paternal mitochondrial DNA from an early embryo. New insight into the mechanism that promotes clonal, maternal inheritance of mitochondrial genes may be helpful for managing mitochondrial disease and infertility in humans, as well as reproductive performance and production traits in agriculturally important domestic animals.