Autophagy in male reproduction

Abstract

Autophagy is a fundamental process that exists in all eukaryotic organisms, with a primary function of catabolizing undesirable components to provide energy and essential materials. Increasing evidence illustrates that autophagy is invovled in a broad range of cellular events within the male reproductive system. In the process of spermatogenesis, autophagy is crucial for the formation of specific structures that guarantee successful spermatogenesis, as well as for the degradation of certain constituents. The underlying connections between autophagy and androgen binding protein, lipid metabolism and testosterone biosynthesis would increase our understanding of male testicular endocrinology. Moreover, cumulative studies reveal that autophagy is a double-edged sword when the organism suffers from endocrine disrupting chemicals. This review contains a collection of the current literature concerning the above aspects of autophagy, which may provide insights for future study and exploration.

GDSL esterase/lipases OsGELP34 and OsGELP110/OsGELP115 are essential for rice pollen development

“…The phenotype variation of anthers in the same floret was unique to the ko110/115 mutant, implicating that OsGELP110/OsGELP115 was probably sensitive to fluctuation of developmental and environmental signals. Numerous studies indicated that improper degradation of anther wall cells, particularly improper degradation of tapetal cells, led to pollen abortion (Zhu et al 2019). Similarly, the abnormal anther wall degradation in osgelp34 and ko110/115 probably contributes significantly to the pollen abortion in these mutants.…”

The hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 affects male reproductive ability by regulating autophagy

“…Moreover, recent studies have found that SARS-CoV-2 infection limits autophagy by interfering with multiple metabolic pathways [7]. The majority of studies have further found that autophagy is often associated with male reproductive ability [8,9]. Therefore, we associate SARS-CoV-2 infection with male reproduction and autophagy, and put forward the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 affects male reproductive function by regulating autophagy.…”

“…In autophagy-deficientt mouse testis, due to the accumulation of a negative cytoskeleton organization regulator, PDLIM1, the cytoskeleton structure is disordered, the assembly of extracellular specialized (ES) is destroyed, and finally lead to sperm head deformity [26]. Besides, autophagy has also been shown to synthesize testosterone by promoting cholesterol uptake and degradation of intracellular low density lipoprotein, which may be involved in the metabolism and elimination of testosterone, as well as the production of other cholesterol-based hormones [8]. It can be seen that autophagy plays an active role in male spermatogenesis and endocrine process.…”

Approaches and Technologies in Male Fertility Preservation

“…Autophagy is a process in which cytoplasm and organelles of the cells are degraded by proteolytic mechanism. It plays important role in maintaining cellular homeostasis, self-renewal, and differentiation [155][156][157][158][159][160][161]. Autophagy is mediated by mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway [161,162].…”