Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jul 17;21(14):5046.
doi: 10.3390/ijms21145046.

Proteomic Analysis in Seminal Plasma of Fertile Donors and Infertile Patients with Sperm DNA Fragmentation

Alba Fernandez-Encinas  1 , Agustín García-Peiró  2 , Javier Del Rey  1 , Jordi Ribas-Maynou  1 , Carlos Abad  3 , Maria José Amengual  4 , Elena Prada  5 , Joaquima Navarro  1 , Jordi Benet  1
Affiliations

Proteomic Analysis in Seminal Plasma of Fertile Donors and Infertile Patients with Sperm DNA Fragmentation

Alba Fernandez-Encinas et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Seminal plasma proteomics studies could represent a new approach for the determination of molecular elements driving male infertility, resulting in a better male infertility characterization. The aim of this study is to investigate proteomic differences in seminal plasma samples from fertile and infertile individuals. For that, semen samples were selected according to semen analysis, clinical pathology, and values of sperm DNA fragmentation (alkaline and neutral Comet assay and Sperm Chromatin Dispersion test). A total of 24 seminal plasma samples classified in four groups were processed: fertile donors (FD), recurrent miscarriage patients (RM), asthenoteratozoospermic patients (ATZ), and asthenoteratozoospermic patients with varicocele (ATZ-VAR). Results obtained by 2D-differential gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) revealed 26 spots significantly increased in fertile donors when compared to patient groups. Also, eight spots in the ATZ group and two in the ATZ-VAR group were decreased compared to the other groups. Twenty-eight proteins were identified by mass spectrometry (MS), most of them involved in metabolic and cellular processes and with a catalytic or binding function. Protein-protein interactions through Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) tool suggest that a large part of them were associated with each other. Furthermore, most of them were associated with ubiquitin C, indicating that it could play an important regulation role, resulting in a potential male infertility biomarker.

Keywords: 2D-DIGE; biomarkers; male infertility; seminal plasma; sperm DNA fragmentation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution spots of differentially expressed proteins from seminal plasma samples among fertile and patients group. Representative image in fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis (DIGE) (a) and in silver stained (b).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Classification of the differential proteins according to their (a) cellular component, (b) molecular function, and (c) biological process, by using the information available at the Panther Web site.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) Network nodes among identified proteins (a) and in a second shell (b).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mosher W.D., Pratt W.F. Fecundity and infertility in the United States: Incidence and trends. Fertil. Steril. 1991;56:192–193. doi: 10.1016/S0015-0282(16)54469-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sigman M., Baazeem A., Zini A. Semen analysis and sperm function assays: What do they mean? Semin. Reprod. Med. 2009;27:115–123. doi: 10.1055/s-0029-1202300. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Liu D.Y., Baker H.W. Evaluation and assessment of semen for IVF/ICSI. Asian J. Androl. 2002;4:281–285. - PubMed
    1. Aitken R.J., De Iuliis G.N., Finnie J.M., Hedges A., McLachlan R.I. Analysis of the relationships between oxidative stress, DNA damage and sperm vitality in a patient population: Development of diagnostic criteria. Hum. Reprod. 2010;25:2415–2426. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deq214. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Barratt C.L.R., Aitken R.J., Björndahl L., Carrell D.T., de Boer P., Kvist U., Lewis S.E.M., Perreault S.D., Perry M.J., Ramos L., et al. Sperm DNA: Organization, protection and vulnerability: From basic science to clinical applications—A position report. Hum. Reprod. 2010;25:824–838. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dep465. - DOI - PubMed