Proteomic revolution to improve tools for evaluating male fertility in animals

Artificial insemination has been used as a common breeding technique for the rapid dissemination of important genes to improve livestock quality. However, infertility or subfertility in the male leads to the disintegration of the breeding system and large economic losses. Therefore, the development of an accurate diagnostic protocol for male fertility is of critical importance. To this end, many basic laboratory assays have been developed on the basis of semen analysis. Although these assays may provide a preliminary estimate of male fertility, their accuracies are often unacceptably low. Therefore, it is vital to develop new semen analyses that are simple to use and accurate. Proteomic approaches will shed light on understanding sperm physiology and help in developing new diagnostic tools for male fertility. The aim of this study was to review the retrospective semen analyses and prospective proteomic studies of male fertility determination and usefulness of proteomic approaches in diagnosing male fertility potential in animal industry.