Metabolomics,Unknown,Transcriptomics,Genomics,Proteomics

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Sperm RNA: A window to idiopathic infertile couples

ABSTRACT: We examine how NGS sequencing of sperm can provide a window as to how particular perturbations of the sperm RNA profile from baseline may be indicative of male factor infertility, and may thus provide direction as to proper course of infertility treatment for couple. NGS RNA-seq of 72 sperm samples from male partner of couples undergoing fertility treatment

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

SUBMITTER: Stephen Krawetz

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-65683 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress

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Project description:Cellular mRNAs are permanently associated to proteins in the form of ribonucleoprotein particles. In addition to the hnRNP and SR protein families, the double-stranded RNA-binding (DRB) proteins play important roles in mRNA synthesis, modification, activity and decay (Dreyfuss et al, 2002; Stutz & Izaurralde, 2003). Staufen is a DRB protein first described as a maternal factor involved in the localised translation of specific mRNAs during early development in the fly (Riechmann & Ephrussi, 2001). One of the human homologues, human Staufen1 (hStau1) forms ribonucleoprotein complexes known as RNA granules that contain proteins involved in translation regulation as well as cytoskeleton and motor proteins to allow the movement of the granule on the microtubules. Although many cellular mRNAs have been found associated to these RNA granules, the specificity of such binding and the mechanims of hStau1-RNA interaction are still unclear. Here we identified a protected sequence signature with high homology to human Alu family of short interspersed elements at the 3’-untranslated region of mRNAs specifically associated to hStau1 protein. Using a combination of affinity chromatography, RNAse-protection, deep-sequencing and bioinformatic analyses to compare the mRNAs differentially associated to hStau1 or a mutant protein unable to bind RNA we defined a collection of mRNAs specifically associated to wt hStau1. A common sequence signature consisting of two opposite-polarity Alu motifs was present in the hStau1-associated mRNAs and was shown to be sufficient for binding to hStau1 and hStau1-dependent stimulation of protein expression. Our results unravel how hStau1 identifies a wide spectrum of cellular target mRNAs to control their localisation, expression and fate. We suggest that mammalian Staufen1 protein has adapted to use the evolutionary recent Alu elements as recognition signals thereby increasing its possibilities for rapid identification to new mRNA targets. Staufen (wild type or mutant) associated RNAs were extracted from HEK293T cells and sequenced according the illumina mRNA-seq potocol (HiSeq2000 sequencer). A third sample, of RNA, associated to a wild type Staufen, was treated with RNase T1 so only RNA fragments directly attached to Staufen were purified and sequenced.

Project description:Infertility is a widespread problem, affecting around 15% of couples worldwide, and is defined as the inability to achieve pregnancy within one year despite unprotected intercourse 1. Infertility can be caused by either male or female reproductive issues. Various medical conditions including malignancies, infections, urogenital conditions, or genetic causes can contribute to male infertility. However, 30-40% of men in their reproductive age are affected by idiopathic infertility, according to the guidelines of European Association of Urology (EAU) 1. Towards a better understanding of male infertility, it is mandatory to achieve a comprehensive understanding of involved genes, their RNA transcripts, and regulatory factors, including miRNAs, which influence the expression level of proteins. Therefore, such proteins need to be identified to investigate their role in spermatogenesis and male infertility. Although there are numerous studies on RNAs, including miRNAs related to male infertility 2-9, there are few studies aiming to cover the whole proteome of human sperm 10. The sperm transcriptome comprises a total of 60,505 transcripts including 11,688 differentially expressed transcripts in infertile and fertile men, as reported by Joshi et al. (2022)11. The entire sperm proteome encompasses 6871 proteins, as summarized by Castillo et al. (2018)10. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of high-throughput studies aiming to identify dysregulated proteins in sperm from subfertile men. Only few studies focused on comparisons of the sperm proteome in men with asthenozoospermia and there is virtually no proteomic studies of oligoasthenozoospermic men 12. Some identified proteins in sperm have functions in maintaining sperm motility and enabling fertilization and are involved in structural composition and/or energy metabolism 12-14 and others are not yet functionally characterized. In this study, we employed Mass spectrometry (MS) technology that is still rarely used in the field of human reproductive research to investigate the proteomic landscape of human sperm and their differential expression patterns in men with subfertility.

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Sperm RNA: A window to idiopathic infertile couples

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