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Gao S, Chen Z, Shi J, Chen Z, Yun D, Li X, Wu X, Sun F. Sperm immotility is associated with epididymis metabolism disorder in mice under obstructive azoospermia. FASEB J 2023; 37:e23081. [PMID: 37410071 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202201862rr] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
Obstructive azoospermia (OA) accounts for approximately 40% of males who suffer from azoospermia of male infertility. Currently, available treatment for OA consists of reproductive tract surgical reconstruction and sperm retrieval from the testis. However, both treatments result in low fertility compared to normal pregnancy, and the main reason remains largely unknown. Previous studies have shown that the quality of sperm retrieved from OA patients is poor compared with normal adult males but without an in-depth study. Herein, we generated a mouse OA model with vasectomy to evaluate sperm quality systematically. Our results showed that the testis had normal spermatogenesis but increased apoptotic activity in both OA patients and mice. More importantly, epididymal morphology was abnormal, with swollen epididymal tubules and vacuole-like principal cells. Especially, sperm retrieved from the epididymis of OA mice showed poor motility and low fertilization ability in vitro. Using mass spectrometry in epididymal fluid, we found differences in the expression of key proteins for sperm maturation, such as Angiotensinogen (AGT), rhophilin-associated tail protein 1 (ROPN1), NPC intracellular cholesterol transporter 2 (NPC2), and prominin 1 (PROM1). Furthermore, our results demonstrated that AGT, secreted by epididymal principal cells, could regulate sperm motility by managing PKCα expression to modify sperm phosphorylation. In conclusion, our data evaluate sperm quality systematically in OA mice and contribute to the understanding between the sperm and epididymis, which may provide novel insight into treating male infertility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng Gao
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Zhengru Chen
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Jie Shi
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Zifeng Chen
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Damin Yun
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Xinyao Li
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Xiaolong Wu
- Department of Urology & Andrology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Fei Sun
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong, China
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Trovero MF, Rodríguez-Casuriaga R, Romeo C, Santiñaque FF, François M, Folle GA, Benavente R, Sotelo-Silveira JR, Geisinger A. Revealing stage-specific expression patterns of long noncoding RNAs along mouse spermatogenesis. RNA Biol 2020; 17:350-365. [PMID: 31869276 PMCID: PMC6999611 DOI: 10.1080/15476286.2019.1700332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2019] [Revised: 11/28/2019] [Accepted: 11/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The discovery of a large number of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), and the finding that they may play key roles in different biological processes, have started to provide a new perspective in the understanding of gene regulation. It has been shown that the testes express the highest amount of lncRNAs among different vertebrate tissues. However, although some studies have addressed the characterization of lncRNAs along spermatogenesis, an exhaustive analysis of the differential expression of lncRNAs at its different stages is still lacking. Here, we present the results for lncRNA transcriptome profiling along mouse spermatogenesis, employing highly pure flow sorted spermatogenic stage-specific cell populations, strand-specific RNAseq, and a combination of up-to-date bioinformatic pipelines for analysis. We found that the vast majority of testicular lncRNA genes are expressed at post-meiotic stages (i.e. spermiogenesis), which are characterized by extensive post-transcriptional regulation. LncRNAs at different spermatogenic stages shared common traits in terms of transcript length, exon number, and biotypes. Most lncRNAs were lincRNAs, followed by a high representation of antisense (AS) lncRNAs. Co-expression analyses showed a high correlation along the different spermatogenic stage transitions between the expression patterns of AS lncRNAs and their overlapping protein-coding genes, raising possible clues about lncRNA-related regulatory mechanisms. Interestingly, we observed the co-localization of an AS lncRNA and its host sense mRNA in the chromatoid body, a round spermatids-specific organelle that has been proposed as a reservoir of RNA-related regulatory machinery. An additional, intriguing observation is the almost complete lack of detectable expression for Y-linked testicular lncRNAs, despite that a high number of lncRNA genes are annotated for this chromosome.
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Affiliation(s)
- María F. Trovero
- Department of Molecular Biology, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable (IIBCE), Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Rosana Rodríguez-Casuriaga
- Department of Molecular Biology, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable (IIBCE), Montevideo, Uruguay
- Biochemistry-Molecular Biology, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República (UdelaR), Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Carlos Romeo
- Department of Genomics, IIBCE, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | | | - Mateo François
- Department of Molecular Biology, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable (IIBCE), Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Gustavo A. Folle
- Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Core, IIBCE, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Department of Genetics, IIBCE, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Ricardo Benavente
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - José R. Sotelo-Silveira
- Department of Genomics, IIBCE, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República (UdelaR), Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Adriana Geisinger
- Department of Molecular Biology, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable (IIBCE), Montevideo, Uruguay
- Biochemistry-Molecular Biology, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República (UdelaR), Montevideo, Uruguay
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