Comparative analysis of the seminal plasma proteomes of oligoasthenozoospermic and normozoospermic men

Abstract

A comparative proteomic study of oligoasthenozoospermic and normozoospermic seminal plasmas was conducted to establish differences in protein expression. Oligoasthenozoospermia (when semen presents with a low concentration and reduced motility of spermatozoa) is common in male infertility. Two-dimensional protein maps from seminal plasma samples from 10 men with normozoospermia and 10 men with idiopathic oligoasthenozoospermia were obtained by isoelectric focusing followed by sodium dodecyl-sulphate polyacrylamide electrophoresis. Map images were analysed using dedicated software involving normalization, spot-to-spot volume comparison and statistical treatment of the results to establish the significance of differences between normal and oligoasthenozoospermic samples. Six out of 1028 spots showed over 1.5-fold relative intensity differences (P < 0.05, analysis of variance). Four proteins were identified by nano liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry of their tryptic peptides and database searches. Two proteins were more than three-fold under-expressed in oligoasthenozoospermia, namely epididymal secretory protein E1 and galectin-3-binding protein; the other (lipocalin-1 and a prolactin-inducible protein form) were over-expressed. The identity and differential expression of epididymal secretory protein E1 was verified by Western-blotting. The statistically significant differential expression of these four proteins in oligoasthenozoospermia compared with normozoospermia provides a molecular basis for further investigations into the pathogenic mechanisms underlying idiopathic oligoasthenozoospermia.

Difference in the seminal plasma protein expression in unexplained infertile men with successful and unsuccessful in vitro fertilisation outcome

“…As the first proteomics report regarding the relationship between SP proteome and UMI, the results of the present study indicated that the SP proteome might affect the IVF outcome. All of the differentially expressed proteins which are reported in this study have been reported in the previously published studies as SP proteins (Fung et al, ; Giacomini et al, ; Milardi et al, ). The first differentially expressed protein reported in the present study is clusterin.…”

“…Wang et al () reported an increase in the NPC2 quantity in the seminal plasma of asthenozoospermic men (Wang et al, ). Interestingly, 3‐ to 4‐fold reduction for NPC2 level has been reported in men with idiopathic oligoasthenozoospermia when compared with normozoospermia (Giacomini et al, ). Sullivan et al () suggested that NPC2 should be involved in the sperm membrane cholesterol efflux (Sullivan et al, ).…”

Proteomic Analyses of Human Sperm Cells: Understanding the Role of Proteins and Molecular Pathways Affecting Male Reproductive Health

“…Using the in-gel digestion based LC-MS/MS approach, Johnston et al identified 1760 sperm proteins [24]. Later on, several other studies also employed the LC-MS/MS-based proteomic profiling of spermatozoa in male infertility cases [9,20,[25][26][27]. In general, comparative protein analysis involves incorporation of stable isotopes for labeling the peptides.…”

A study on the association between serum amyloid A and sperm concentration

“…In the literature, there are several studies that aimed to evaluate the protein composition of seminal fluid of infertile and normal men in order to clarify the mechanisms underlying male infertility (Frapsauce et al ., ; McReynolds et al ., ; Giacomini et al ., ). In the current study, we aimed to compare peripheral blood and seminal fluid SAA protein levels in men classified on the basis of sperm concentration among infertile couples so as to investigate whether SAA protein is an important marker of male infertility.…”