Abstract
Conventional semen analysis has been used for prognosis and diagnosis of male fertility. Although this tool is essential for providing initial quantitative information about semen, it remains a subject of debate. Therefore, development of new methods for the prognosis and diagnosis of male fertility should be seriously considered for animal species of economic importance as well as for humans. In the present study, we applied a comprehensive proteomic approach to identify global protein biomarkers in boar spermatozoa in order to increase the precision of male fertility prognoses and diagnoses. We determined that l-amino acid oxidase, mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase 2, NAD (MDH2), cytosolic 5'-nucleotidase 1B, lysozyme-like protein 4, and calmodulin (CALM) were significantly and abundantly expressed in high-litter size spermatozoa. We also found that equatorin, spermadhesin AWN, triosephosphate isomerase (TPI), Ras-related protein Rab-2A (RAB2A), spermadhesin AQN-3, and NADH dehydrogenase [ubiquinone] iron-sulfur protein 2 (NDUFS2) were significantly and abundantly expressed in low-litter size spermatozoa (>3-fold). Moreover, RAB2A, TPI, and NDUFS2 were negatively correlated with litter size, whereas CALM and MDH2 were positively correlated. This study provides novel biomarkers for the prediction of male fertility. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that shows significantly increased litter size using male fertility biomarkers in a field trial. Moreover, these protein markers may provide new developmental tools for the selection of superior sires as well as for the prognosis and diagnosis of male fertility.
Highlights
Prognosis and diagnosis of male fertility is a major concern in both animals and humans worldwide
Proteomic Analysis and Identification of Fertility-related Proteins—Identification of the differentially expressed proteins related to fertility in high- and low-litter size spermatozoa by 2-DE analysis was conducted using 24-cm NL Immobiline DryStrips
The selection of quality semen mainly depends on conventional semen analyses (9 –12), but the clinical value of these analyses is still debated [13]
Summary
Woo-Sung Kwon‡, Md Saidur Rahman‡, June-Sub Lee‡, Sung-Jae Yoon‡, Yoo-Jin Park‡, and Myung-Geol Pang‡§. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that shows significantly increased litter size using male fertility biomarkers in a field trial These protein markers may provide new developmental tools for the selection of superior sires as well as for the prognosis and diagnosis of male fertility. The selection of high quality semen still depends on conventional sperm analyses such as the analysis of sperm morphology [9], motility [10], and sperm penetration assays [11, 12] These tests are commonly used to evaluate the male factor of fertility/infertility, the clinical value is still debated [13]. To represent the entire proteomic event, biological functions and interactions of the deferentially expressed proteins were schematized by a signaling pathway
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