Methylation status in human sperm

Genomic imprinting describes the expression of a subset of mammalian genes from one parental chromosome. The parent-of-origin specific expression of imprinted genes relies on DNA methylation of CpG-dinucleotides at differentially methylated regions (DMRs) during gametogenesis. We identified the paternally methylated DMR at human chromosome 2 near the imprinted ZDBF2 gene using a methylated-DNA immunoprecipitation-on-chip (meDIP-on-chip) method applied to DNA from sperm. To analyze whether or not the GPR1-ZDBF2 DMR is conserved in human genome, methylation analysis of human sperm sample was performed using MeDIP and genome tiling array.