Sperm-specific protein ACTL7A as a biomarker for fertilization outcomes of assisted reproductive technology

Abstract

Obtaining high-quality embryos is one of the key factors to improve the clinical pregnancy rate of assisted reproductive technologies (ART). So far, the clinical evaluation of embryo quality depends on embryo morphology. However, the clinical pregnancy rate is still low. Therefore, new indicators are needed to further improve the evaluation of embryo quality. Several studies have shown that the decrease of sperm-specific protein actin-like 7A (ACTL7A) leaded to low fertilization rate, poor embryo development, and even infertility. The aim of this study was to study whether the different expression levels of ACTL7A on sperm can be used as a biomarker for predicting embryo quality. In this study, excluding the factors of severe female infertility, a total of 281 sperm samples were collected to compare the ACTL7A expression levels of sperms with high and low effective embryo rates and analyze the correlation between protein levels and in-vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratory outcomes. Our results indicated that the ACTL7A levels were significantly reduced in sperm samples presenting poor embryo quality. Furthermore, the protein levels showed a significant correlation with fertilization outcomes of ART. ACTL7A has the potential to be a biomarker for predicting success rate of fertilization and effective embryo and the possibility of embryo arrest. In conclusion, sperm-specific protein ACTL7A has a strong correlation with IVF laboratory outcomes and plays important roles in fertilization and embryo development.

Testis-specific actin-like 7A (ACTL7A) is an indispensable protein for subacrosomal-associated F-actin formation, acrosomal anchoring, and male fertility

“…More interestingly, we found that despite mature WT spermatozoa having an acroplaxome, ACTL7A is found almost exclusively on the postacrosomal sheath region of the sperm head in mice ( Fig. 4A ) and was previously reported to also be partially retained in the acroplaxome in humans ( Chen et al , 2021 ; Xin et al , 2022 ). The partial retention of ACTL7A in the human acroplaxome might suggest a divergent function of the protein unique to primates, that the human postacrosomal sheath formation or function is not as reliant in ACTL7A activity, or simply that differences in methodologies and antibodies used may have yielded deviating results.…”

Inhibition of Prolactin Affects Epididymal Morphology by Decreasing the Secretion of Estradiol in Cashmere Bucks

“…In the present study, we found that DEGs (including ACTL7A, ACTRT3, and SPESP1 ) were significantly enriched in cell components, such as the germ cell nucleus and male germ cell nucleus. ACTL7A is essential for early embryonic development, and its reduction could lead to poor embryonic development and even infertility [ 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ]. The deletion of SPESP1 led to an abnormal distribution of multiple proteins in mouse spermatozoa, reduced the sperm fusion capacity, and reduced the number of pups [ 51 ].…”

Development of a biomolecular approach to identify sperm functions and fertility using sperm RNAs

“…Therefore, in addition to sperm functional parameters, various markers are being developed and numerous studies are underway to validate their practical use ( Jodar et al, 2017 ; Burl et al, 2018 ; Agarwal et al, 2020 ; Hernandez-Silva et al, 2022 ; Yang et al, 2022 ). Among these, transcriptomic markers are particularly promising due to the well-developed high-throughput techniques used for their analysis and the availability of various on-site validation tools.…”