Parental noncoding RNAs choreograph pre and post fertilization events

The fusion of two terminally differentiated gametes, a sperm and an oocyte, results in the formation of a totipotent zygote, which is the first step in the development of a mammalian embryo. As the embryo progresses from pre- to post-implantation stage, significant structural and transcriptional changes take place within the embryonic lineage to ensure the success of a series of crucial biological events, such as oocyte activation and maternal-to-zygotic transition coordinated with zygotic gene activation, followed by the first cell-fate decision and lineage-specific differentiation, laying the foundation for the subsequent phase of gastrulation. LncRNAs are mostly transcribed by RNA polymerase II and are longer than 200 nts in length. They can interact with multiple molecules, including DNA, RNA, and protein, for regulating transcription, inducing epigenetic and translational modifications. miRNAs control the regulation of mRNAs by targeting it post transcriptionally. The importance of lncRNAs and miRNAs in germ cell development leads to successful fertilization and subsequently towards post fertilization events. The detail contribution of the maternal and paternal ncRNA profile towards fine tuning these events remain to be deciphered. All these motivated us to look into the parental ncRNA profile within mature fertile sperm and oocyte as well as zygote in mouse system, followed by an in-depth analysis to understand their modes of regulation which finetunes fertilization as well as post fertilization events prior to ZGA.