Home  |   Archive  |   Online Submission  |   News & Events  |   Subscribe  |   APFA  |   Society  |   Contact Us  |   中文版
Search   
 
Journal

Ahead of print
Authors' Accepted
    Manuscripts
new!
Current Issue
Archive
Acknowledgments
Special Issues
Browse by Category

Manuscript Submission

Online Submission
Online Review
Instruction for Authors
Instruction for Reviewers
English Corner new!

About AJA

About AJA
Editorial Board
Contact Us
News

Resources & Services

Advertisement
Subscription
Email alert
Proceedings
Reprints

Download area

Copyright licence
EndNote style file
Manuscript word template
Guidance for AJA figures
    preparation (in English)

Guidance for AJA figures
    preparation (in Chinese)

Proof-reading for the
    authors

AJA Club (in English)
AJA Club (in Chinese)

 
Abstract

Volume 22, Issue 1 (January 2020) 22, 88–93; 10.4103/aja.aja_17_19

Reduced semen quality in patients with testicular cancer seminoma is associated with alterations in the expression of sperm proteins

Tania R Dias1,2,3, Ashok Agarwal1, Peter N Pushparaj4, Gulfam Ahmad5, Rakesh Sharma1

1 American Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
2 Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Covilhã 6201-001, Portugal
3 Department of Microscopy and Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Porto 4050-313, Portugal
4 Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
5 Division of Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, Sydney University, Lidcombe NSW 2141, Australia

Correspondence: Dr. A Agarwal (agarwaa@ccf.org)

16-Apr-2019

Abstract

Testicular cancer seminoma is one of the most common types of cancer among men of reproductive age. Patients with this condition usually present reduced semen quality, even before initiating cancer therapy. However, the underlying mechanisms by which testicular cancer seminoma affects male fertility are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate alterations in the sperm proteome of men with seminoma undergoing sperm banking before starting cancer therapy, in comparison to healthy proven fertile men (control group). A routine semen analysis was conducted before cryopreservation of the samples (n = 15 per group). Men with seminoma showed a decrease in sperm motility (P = 0.019), total motile count (P = 0.001), concentration (P = 0.003), and total sperm count (P = 0.001). Quantitative proteomic analysis identified 393 differentially expressed proteins between the study groups. Ten proteins involved in spermatogenesis, sperm function, binding of sperm to the oocyte, and fertilization were selected for validation by western blot. We confirmed the underexpression of heat shock-related 70 kDa protein 2 (P = 0.041), ubiquinol-cytochrome C reductase core protein 2 (P = 0.026), and testis-specific sodium/potassium-transporting ATPase subunit alpha-4 (P = 0.016), as well as the overexpression of angiotensin I converting enzyme (P = 0.005) in the seminoma group. The altered expression levels of these proteins are associated with spermatogenesis dysfunction, reduced sperm kinematics and motility, failure in capacitation and fertilization. The findings of this study may explain the decrease in the fertilizing ability of men with seminoma before starting cancer therapy.

Keywords: male fertility; proteomics; seminoma; sperm proteins; sperm quality; testicular cancer

Full Text | PDF |

 
Browse:  1352
 
Asian Journal of Andrology CN 31-1795/R ISSN 1008-682X  Copyright © 2023  Shanghai Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences.  All rights reserved.