{
  "abstract": "The occurrence of childhood neurodevelopmental disorders has been steadily increasing for decades, yet we have little understanding of modes of inheritance implicated in these diseases. Epidemiology studies have revealed an association between an elevated paternal Body Mass Index (BMI) and age as factors implicated in increased risk for neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Epigenetic regulation of gene expression by DNA methylation at cytosines is susceptible to environmental, diet, and lifestyle changes. Yet, whether a man's BMI and age influence the sperm methylome and potentially impact offspring development remains unresolved. Using MethylC capture sequencing, we identified over 38,000 differentially methylated CpGs in the sperm of men with an elevated BMI, with overlap occurring in regions associated with advanced paternal age. These were enriched for neural gene and disease ontologies. Differentially methylated regions localized to transposable elements that can act as active enhancers during human zygotic genome activation, and at gene promoters for early lineage specification. These results suggest that sperm methylome alterations that are linked to an elevated BMI may influence key embryonic transcriptional processes, notably those associated with trophectoderm and placental development.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, University of Montreal Hospital Research Center, Montreal, QC H2X 0A9, Canada.",
    "Digital Technologies Research Center, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, Canada.",
    "Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology, Department of Biochemistry Microbiology and Immunology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada.",
    "Child Health and Human Development Program, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC H4A 3J1, Canada.",
    "Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-2200, Denmark.",
    "Nutrition Research Division, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada.",
    "CReATe Fertility Clinic Center, Toronto, ON M5G 1N8, Canada.",
    "Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada.",
    "McGill Genome Center, Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0G1, Canada.",
    "Genomic medicine Center, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO 64108.",
    "Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1E2, Canada.",
    "Nutrition Research Division, Bureau of Nutritional Sciences, Food and Nutrition Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa K1A 0K9, Canada.",
    "Departments of Pediatrics, Human Genetics, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, McGill University, Montreal, QC H4A 3J1, Canada.",
    "Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3G 1Y6, Canada."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 14,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mathieu Schulz",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0373-4264"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Xiaojian Shao",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3044-621X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Romain Lambrot"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Christine Lafleur"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Donovan Chan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Marie-Charlotte Dumargne",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7009-9104"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Amanda J MacFarlane",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3208-3483"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Sergey Moskovtsev"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Guillaume Bourque",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3933-9656"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9
      ],
      "name": "Tomi Pastinen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        10
      ],
      "name": "Clifford Librach"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Hope Weiler"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        12
      ],
      "name": "Jacquetta Trasler"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        13
      ],
      "name": "Sarah Kimmins",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0168-7233"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/69xme5y4r5zgd.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1073/pnas.2534171123",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13684213",
  "id": "69xme5y4r5zgd",
  "issns": [
    "0027-8424",
    "1091-6490"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42886706",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Epigenetics and DNA Methylation"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222483282",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13684213?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13684213",
  "pmid": "42886706",
  "published": "2026-10-16",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/69xme5y4r5zgd.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:46Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42886706",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42886706"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1312|Epigenetics and DNA Methylation",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Altered sperm DNA methylation provides an epigenetic route from overweight and older men to intergenerational disease transmission.",
  "title_text": "Altered sperm DNA methylation provides an epigenetic route from overweight and older men to intergenerational disease transmission.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:46Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/69xme5y4r5zgd",
  "venue": "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
  "versions": []
}