Influence of Risk Factors for Male Infertility on Sperm Protein Composition.

Marie Bisconti,Baptiste Martinet,Elise Hennebert,Vanessa Arcolia,Sarah Grassi,Vladimir Isachenko,Jean-François Simon,Baptiste Leroy

doi:10.3390/ijms222313164

Abstract

Male infertility is a common health problem that can be influenced by a host of lifestyle risk factors such as environment, nutrition, smoking, stress, and endocrine disruptors. These effects have been largely demonstrated on sperm parameters (e.g., motility, numeration, vitality, DNA integrity). In addition, several studies showed the deregulation of sperm proteins in relation to some of these factors. This review inventories the literature related to the identification of sperm proteins showing abundance variations in response to the four risk factors for male infertility that are the most investigated in this context: obesity, diabetes, tobacco smoking, and exposure to bisphenol-A (BPA). First, we provide an overview of the techniques used to identify deregulated proteins. Then, we summarise the main results obtained in the different studies and provide a compiled list of deregulated proteins in relation to each risk factor. Gene ontology analysis of these deregulated proteins shows that oxidative stress and immune and inflammatory responses are common mechanisms involved in sperm alterations encountered in relation to the risk factors.

Highlights

Spermatozoa are highly specialised and differentiated cells that form from spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) during spermatogenesis in the seminiferous tubules of the testicles [1]
As the purpose of this review was to constitute a list of sperm proteins deregulated by each risk factor, we considered only studies focusing on the risk factor itself, trying to avoid the synergic effects caused by other clinical disorders
Smoking, diabetes, psychological stress, drug or alcohol use, endocrine disruptors, and nutrition have been shown to have a deleterious effect on sperm parameters, as well as on DNA integrity, capacitation, and ATP production by mitochondria [22,24,148]

Summary

Introduction

Spermatozoa are highly specialised and differentiated cells that form from spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) during spermatogenesis in the seminiferous tubules of the testicles [1]. Proteomic approaches have been widely used to identify key proteins involved in infertility disorders, mainly by comparing sperm samples from different donors (e.g., normospermic samples from fertile vs infertile men, asthenospermic vs normospermic sperm, etc.). The results of these studies, focused on altered sperm parameters and some diseases, have already been compiled in excellent reviews (e.g., [15,16,17,18,19,20])

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Results

Conclusion