Mass spectrometry profiling of oxysterols in human sperm identifies 25-hydroxycholesterol as a marker of sperm function.

ABSTRACT: Cholesterol is a main lipid component of sperm cell that is essential for sperm membrane fluidity, capacitation, and acrosomal reaction. Recent data obtained in bovine sperm showed that sperm capacitation is associated to the formation of oxysterols, oxidized products of cholesterol. The aim of this study was to profile oxysterol content in human semen, and to investigate their potential role in sperm pathophysiology. Among the 12 oxysterols analyzed, 25-hydroxycholesterol (25-HC) resulted the most represented in normozoospermic samples, and its concentration positively correlated with spermatozoa number. We detected Cholesterol 25-hydroxylase, the enzyme responsible for 25-HC production, in human spermatozoa at the level of the neck and the post acrosomal area. Upon incubation with sperma

SUBMITTER: Zerbinati C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5133663 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature