Proteomic analysis of seminal plasma in men with different spermatogenic impairment

Abstract

Seminal plasma is a potential source of biomarkers for many disorders of the male reproductive system including male infertility. The identification and characterisation of differentially expressed proteins in seminal plasma of man with normal and impaired spermatogenesis can help in the elucidation of the molecular basis of male infertility. We compared the protein expression profiles of seminal plasma from four different groups of men as follows: normozoospermic, asthenozoospermic, oligozoospermic and azoospermic groups, using two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis (2-D DIGE). We found eight proteins with statistically significant increased expression in azoospermia compared with at least one of the other studied groups. The differentially expressed spots were fibronectin, prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), proteasome subunit alpha type-3, beta-2-microglobulin, galectin-3-binding protein, prolactin-inducible protein and cytosolic nonspecific dipeptidase. Notably, PAP was increased in patients with azoospermia compared with that of all other groups. We have observed no statistically significant differences in protein expression between three of the groups: normozoospermic, oligozoospermic and asthenozoospermic. We suggest that the identified panel of proteins in our study especially PAP have a strong potential to be used as azoospermia markers. However, further investigations will be necessary to validate these markers in samples of larger and independent patient cohorts and to clarify their role in the pathogenesis of male infertility.