Expression of COX10 in human non-obstructive azoospermia testes / 中华男科学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the expression of COX10 mRNA in the testes of non-obstructive azoospermia patients and normal men.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A cDNA microarray containing COX10 and some other genes as RBM and EIF1AY was used to identify the differential gene expression profiles in the normal and azoospermic testes. The cDNA probes were prepared by labeling mRNA from azoospermic and normal testis tissues with Cy5-dUTP and Cy3-dUTP respectively through reverse transcription. The mixed cDNA probes were then hybridized with cDNA microarray. Later the fluorescent signals were scanned and the values of Cy5-dUTP and Cy3-dUTP on each spot were calculated and analyzed. After that an ISH was employed to detect the expression of COX10 mRNA in 10 fertile and 39 non-obstructive azoospermic testes, and the expression levels were compared to evaluate the significance.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>We obtained 128 differentially expressed genes that might be related with azoospermia, among which 56 were up-regulated and 72 down-regulated, with the expression of COX10 significantly decreased. In situ hybridization confirmed that the mRNA expression of COX10 was stronger in the spermatogenic cells of the normal fertile than the azoospermic testes.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>COX10 may play a certain role in the development and progression of azoospermia. The technique of cDNA microarray can be applied to further studies of screening non-obstructive azoospermia associated genes.</p>