Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
Volume 24, Issue 7, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/ijms24076865
Keywords
circRNAs; high-fat diet; spermatozoa; male infertility; oxidative stress
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Obesity is a pathological disorder that is increasingly prevalent in the younger population worldwide and negatively affects male reproductive skills. This study investigated the impact of a high-fat diet on sperm morphology, motility, and circRNAs in mice. It found that obesity can lead to inefficient circRNA biogenesis in sperm.
Obesity is a pathophysiological disorder associated with adiposity accumulation, oxidative stress, and chronic inflammation state that is progressively increasing in younger population worldwide, negatively affecting male reproductive skills. An emerging topic in the field of male reproduction is circRNAs, covalently closed RNA molecules produced by backsplicing, actively involved in a successful spermatogenesis and in establishing high-quality sperm parameters. However, a direct correlation between obesity and impaired circRNA cargo in spermatozoa (SPZ) remains unclear. In the current work, using C57BL6/J male mice fed with a high-fat diet (HFD, 60% fat) as experimental model of oxidative stress, we investigated the impact of HFD on sperm morphology and motility as well as on spermatic circRNAs. We performed a complete dataset of spermatic circRNA content by a microarray strategy, and differentially expressed (DE)-circRNAs were identified. Using a circRNA/miRNA/target network (ceRNET) analysis, we identified circRNAs potentially involved in oxidative stress and sperm motility pathways. Interestingly, we demonstrated an enhanced skill of HFD sperm in backsplicing activity together with an inefficient epididymal circRNA biogenesis. Fused protein in sarcoma (FUS) and its ability to recruit quaking (QKI) could be involved in orchestrating such mechanism.
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