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Updated: Apr 7, 2026
Phosphopeptide Analysis of Rodent Epididymal Spermatozoa
Published on: December 30, 2014
Spermatozoa from patients with seminal alterations exhibit a differential micro-ribonucleic acid profile
Albert Salas-Huetos1, Joan Blanco1, Francesca Vidal1
1Genetics of Male Fertility Group, Unitat de Biologia Cel·lular, Facultat de Biociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain.
Objective:
To compare the microRNA (miRNA) expression profile in spermatozoa from three infertile populations vs. a group of fertile men.
Design:
Evaluation of the expression level of 736 miRNAs in human spermatozoa using TaqMan quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.
Setting:
University research facility.
Patient(S):
Semen samples with a single seminal alteration were collected from infertile individuals: asthenozoospermic (n = 10), teratozoospermic (n = 10), and oligozoospermic (n = 10).
Intervention(S):
None.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Correlation of the expression level of each miRNA with seminal parameters, age, and chromosome instability; clustering of the individuals according to their miRNA expression profiles and influence of the seminogram, age, chromosome instability, and assisted reproductive technology outcome in the clustering; analysis of the differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) in each infertile population; genome annotation of these DE-miRNAs; and ontological analysis of their predicted targets.
Result(S):
The hsa-miR-34b-3p correlated with age, the hsa-miR-629-3p with sperm motility, and the hsa-miR-335-5p, hsa-miR-885-5p, and hsa-miR-152-3p with sperm concentration. The individuals clustered into two groups, and only the seminogram was differentially distributed. We identified 32 DE-miRNAs in the asthenozoospermic group, 19 in the teratozoospermic group, and 18 in the oligozoospermic group. The up-regulated miRNAs presented an enriched localization in introns, affecting relevant genes for spermatogenesis. The predicted targets of the DE-miRNAs contained critical genes associated to infertility, and their ontological analysis revealed significantly associated functions related to the seminal alterations of each group.
Conclusion(S):
Spermatozoa from patients with seminal alterations exhibit a differential miRNA profile. This provides new evidence that miRNAs have an essential role in spermatogenesis, contributing to the mechanisms involved in human fertility.
