Journal
UROLOGY
Volume 85, Issue 3, Pages 580-588Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.urology.2014.11.030
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cleveland Clinic
Ask authors/readers for more resources
OBJECTIVE To compare the sperm protein profile between infertile men with unilateral varicocele and infertile men with bilateral varicocele. METHODS This prospective study investigated 50 infertile patients with clinical varicocele (33 unilateral and 17 bilateral) seeking fertility workup between March 2012 and April 2014. Routine sperm parameters, reactive oxygen species, total antioxidant capacity, and sperm deoxyribonucleic acid fragmentation were assessed in their semen. Sperm protein profile was characterized only in pooled samples of 5 unilateral and 3 bilateral varicocele samples, respectively, using sodiumdodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and an Linear Trap Quadrupole-Orbitrap Elite hybrid mass spectrophotometer system. Differences in protein expressionwere analyzed using gel analysis software, followed by protein identification using mass spectroscopy analysis. Differentially expressed proteins and their abundance were quantified by comparing spectral counts, followed by bioinformatics analysis. RESULTS Unique expression of 64 proteins in the bilateral group and 31 proteins in the unilateral group was obtained. Core functions of the top protein interaction networks were post-translational modification (w122 proteins associated with acetylation), protein folding, free-radical scavenging, cell death, and survival. The top molecular and cellular functions were protein degradation, free radical scavenging, and post-translational modifications, whereas the top pathways were protein ubiquitination and mitochondrial dysfunction. Major biological pathways for the 253 differentially expressed proteins were metabolism, apoptosis, and signal transduction. CONCLUSION Functional proteomic profiling helps identify the differential processes or pathways that are affected based on the nature of varicocele (bilateral or unilateral) and provide insights into the mechanistic implications of varicocele-associated male infertility. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available