Osseous tissue develops via two distinctly different processes: endochondral (EC) ossification and intramembranous (IM) ossification. The present study tests the hypothesis that each type of osseous tissue contains unique inducing factors for the promotion of cartilage and bone development. Previous work suggests that subcutaneous implants of demineralized EC and IM bone matrices both induce endochondral ossification. Thus, it concludes that the bone growth promotion properties of the respective matrices are very similar. As it was unclear to us why EC and IM bone powders should possess identical osteoinductive properties, we attempted to reproduce these results. We implanted EC (femoral) demineralized bone matrix (DBM), IM (frontal) DBM, or a mixture of the two into the ventral thoracic subcutaneous tissue of 12 to 15-week-old male Sprague Dawley rats. Morphological and radiolabeling techniques in this study demonstrated that implants of EC bone matrix induce bone formation via EC ossification in contrast to implants of IM bone matrix which do not induce EC ossification. Our findings suggest that the matrix of EC bone differs qualitatively from the matrix of IM bone due to their respective abilities to induce cartilage and/or bone formation. These observations differ from those previously reported possibly because our IM DBM preparations were not contaminated with tissues of endochondral origin. In current clinical practice, EC DBM allografts are often used to induce new bone formation in defects involving both IM and EC bone. We conclude that there may be clinical settings in which it would be more appropriate to replace bone originally formed via IM ossification with IM DBM rather than EC DBM.

Globally, ϳ1 in 15 men of reproductive age are infertile, yet the precise mechanisms underlying their gamete failure are unknown. Although a semen analysis is performed to determine fertilizing potential, the diagnostic suitability of this analysis has been questioned in several reports, as many men, classified as infertile according to their semen analysis, subsequently turn out to be fertile. Herein, we have used a quantitative (phospho)-proteomic analysis, using enrichment on titanium dioxide followed by ion-trap mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), to compare the semen of infertile versus fertile males. One protein, namely outer dense fiber 1 (ODF1), was dramatically reduced in infertile males. Using specific antibodies, we then screened the gametes of a cohort of suspected infertile men and demonstrated a reduction in the amount of ODF1 compared with fertile controls. Stress treatment of sperm deficient in ODF1 caused the head to decapitate, suggesting why these gametes fail to initiate fertilization. Interestingly, electron micrographs of ODF1-deficient spermatozoa revealed an abnormal connecting piece, indicating several developmental defects with both the implantation plate and the thin laminated fibers. In some cases, the implantation plate appeared to be reduced in size or was overburdened by granular material near the connecting piece. Hence, a strong reduction ODF1 is a marker of idiopathic male infertility and a potential driver of this condition. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 15: 10.1074/ mcp.M116.060343, 3685-3693, 2016.Globally, in excess of 80 million people suffer from infertility (1), with ϳ1 in every seven couples so affected (2). In at least half of these cases, a defect in one or more aspects of sperm function appears to be the cause (2). Understanding the contribution of each partner to a couple's infertility is critical in determining how this situation can be optimally addressed. In the case of the male, a semen analysis focusing on sperm motility, concentration, and morphology is often performed to determine the fertilizing potential. A set of guidelines for evaluating semen quality was originally published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1980 (3). However, so inadequate were these criteria in predicting infertility that revised values had to be released in 1987, 1992, 1999, and again in 2010 (4). Although a semen analysis is the best predictive test we have to date, it clearly falls short of a true diagnosis (5, 6). Indeed, several studies have shown that men with sperm numbers (7-9), morphology (8, 10), and motility (11-17) below the thresholds outlined by the WHO can be fertile. Furthermore, there are many instances of men with normal sperm parameters that are infertile (13, 18 -20). Thus, these traditional diagnostic tests are limited in the information they generate and are poor predictors of male-factor infertility.In order to define the cause of male infertility, attempts have been made to identify changes in the proteomic composition of normal and infertile spermatozoa (20...

The objective of the present study was to describe the proteins from the seminal plasma of buffalo and correlate these proteins with sperm motility. Ejaculates from sixteen Murrah buffalo were used. Semen collection was performed by electroejaculation, and the ejaculate was evaluated by macroscopic (volume) and microscopic analysis (subjective motility and vigor, as well as sperm concentration). After the analysis, the samples were centrifuged (800g for 10 min and 10,000 for 30 min at 4 °C), and the supernatant (seminal plasma) was used to determine total protein concentration by the Bradford method. Based on total protein concentration, an aliquot (50 μg) was taken to conduct protein in-solution digestion for nano-LC-ESI-Q-TOF mass spectrometry analysis. Samples were divided into two groups, minimal (little sperm motility) and greater (typical sperm motility), based on non-hierarchical clustering considering motility and emPAI protein value. The data were analyzed by multivariate statistical analysis using principal component analysis (PCA) and partial analysis of minimum squares discrimination (PLS-DA). Forty-eight proteins were detected in the seminal plasma, and fifteen were common to two groups. There were six proteins that were significantly different between the groups. The main functions of proteins in seminal plasma were catalytic and binding activity. Spermadhesin protein, ribonuclease, 14-3-3 protein zeta/delta and acrosin inhibitor were in greater amounts in seminal plasma from the group with greater sperm motility; prosaposin and peptide YY were in greater amounts in the group with little sperm motility. The proteins detected in the greater motility group were correlated with sperm protection, including protection against oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, protease inhibition and prevention of premature capacitation and acrosome reaction. In the group with little sperm motility, one of the identified proteins is considered to be an antifertility factor, whereas the function of other identified protein is not definitive. Results from the present study add to the knowledge base about the molecular processes related with sperm motility, and these findings can be used for determining potential markers of semen quality.

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All known bone-derived osteoinductive factors have been isolated from endochondral (EC) bones and all initiate bone induction via EC ossification. However, to date no attempt has been made to isolate comparable factors from bones which form initially and completely via intramembranous (IM) ossification. The purpose of this work was to isolate osteoinductive proteins from IM bones. To accomplish this, we extracted proteins from bovine frontal bone matrix (intramembranous origin) using methods previously described for endochondral (EC) bone matrix (i.e., femur). Bone powder (< 1 mm) was decalcified and proteins extracted with 4 M guanidine hydrochloride. Ultrafiltration was used to isolate and concentrate a 10-100 kilodalton (kDa) fraction, upon which heparin-Sepharose (HS) affinity chromatography was performed. HS-binding (HS-B) and non-binding proteins (HS-NB) were lyophilized with bovine type I collagen (Vitrogen) to form pellets which were implanted subcutaneously in rats. Radiology as well as brightfield, fluorescent, and polarizing microscopy were used to assess the formation of ectopic bone at the site of pellet implantation. In this report we demonstrate that a heparin-Sepharose binding, osteoinductive factor can be extracted and partially purified from bovine intramembranous bone matrix. This factor has a different sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) banding pattern than a comparable osteoinductive/chondroinductive factor isolated from EC bone.

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