Differentially expressed genes in asthenospermia: a bioinformatics-based study / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the differentially expressed genes in asthenospermia to gain a deeper insight into the molecular mechanisms of the disease.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We analyzed the differentially expressed genes in asthenospermia using GATHER, PANTHER and ToppGene online bioinformatics tools.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Our bioinformatics mining and analyses revealed that the differentially expressed genes in asthenospermia played important roles in the cellular protein and macromolecular metabolism, protein modification, cell death, cell apoptosis and apoptosis induction.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Asthenospermia patients experience a decline in sperm activity and the basic life activities of sperm simultaneously, and are also prone to cell apoptosis or death. Such differentially expressed genes as KIF3B, MYO15A, KIF6, KIF26B, KIF3A, DNHD2, DMN, DYNC2H1, STARD9, MYOHD1, and TPM1, which are involved in cytoskeletal structure, microtubule movement and cell movement, may be associated with asthenospermia, and therefore deserve further studies.</p>

Expressions of cysteine-rich secretory protein 2 in asthenospermia / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the mRNA and protein expression levels of cysteine-rich secretory protein 2 (CRISP2) in the sperm of asthenospermia patients, and explore their relationship with sperm motility and related molecular mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We collected 78 semen samples from adult male patients with asthenospermia and another 70 from healthy volunteers as controls. We extracted total RNA and total protein from the sperm following purification of the sperm by Percoll gradient centrifugation, and detected the relative expressions of CRISP2 mRNA and protein in the two groups by RT-PCR, SYBR Green real-time PCR and Western blot.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression of CRISP2 mRNA was down-regulated by 4.3 times and that of the CRISP2 protein by 1.71 times in the asthenospermia patients, significantly lower than in the normal control group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The down-regulation of CRISP2 mRNA and protein expressions in the sperm of asthenospermia patients may be closely related with decreased sperm motility, which suggests that CRISP2 may serve as a potential molecular target for the research of asthenospermia.</p>