Abstract
Vimentin is a structural protein predominantly located in the head of sperms. The function and localization of the previously identified truncated version, Vimentin 3 (Vim3), are still unknown. To investigate whether the expression of Vim3 can be used as a reliable marker for the differentiation of sperm quality, we analyzed ejaculates from patients with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT) syndrome and normozoospermia. We identified sperms with head, neck, and tail changes, which were less positive for Vim3 in OAT syndrome compared to normozoospermia. The expression of Vim3 was significantly downregulated in patients with OAT syndrome compared to sperms from patients with normozoospermia (∗∗p < 0.01). The ELISA analysis showed similar results as ejaculates from normozoospermic patients showed a significantly higher Vim3 concentration than patients with OAT syndrome (∗∗∗p < 0.001). This study demonstrates that Vim3 is more highly expressed in ejaculates from patients with normozoospermia compared to ejaculates from patients with OAT syndrome. Therefore, we postulate that Vim3 can be used to determine ejaculate quality. Furthermore, we identified the marker, Vim3, to differentiate between mature sperms with no morphological changes and sperms with head, neck, and tail changes. A lateral flow assay that allows quick analysis is currently under development.
Highlights
Around 30 million men worldwide are infertile with the highest rates in Africa and Eastern Europe [1]
We first analyzed the expression of ET-1 in sperm cells comparing patients with normozoospermia and OAT syndrome
We found a significantly higher expression of ET-1 in normozoospermia compared to the OAT syndrome
Summary
Around 30 million men worldwide are infertile with the highest rates in Africa and Eastern Europe [1]. Vimentin is a structural protein and is predominantly expressed in the head domain of sperms [4]. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is responsible for the expression of a truncated variant of Vimentin [6], called Vimentin 3 (Vim). Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is responsible for the expression of a truncated variant of Vimentin [6], called Vimentin 3 (Vim3) This truncation process is induced by miRNA 498 binding to its complementary sequence on the DNA, which results in a transcriptional stop. Maggi et al demonstrated that normozoospermic ejaculates show the highest ET-1 expression [9] Using this method Vim can be used to identify normozoospermia but can help to reveal if patients suffer from oligoasthenoteratozoospermia [9]
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