Expression of estrogen receptors, PELP1, and SRC in human spermatozoa and their associations with semen quality

In this study, we obtained 119 samples from male participants of Caucasian descent who donated semen for standard analysis. We analyzed gene expression of estrogen receptors (ESR1 andESR2) and their coregulators —proline-, glutamic acid-, and leucine-rich protein 1 (PELP1), and cellular kinase c-Src (SRC). RNA level was established using reverse-transcribed RNA as a template, followed by a polymerase chain reaction. Proteins ’ presence was confirmed by western blot and immunocytochemistry techniques. “Normal” values of semen parameters were defined as follows: >  32% sperm with progressive motility, >  4% sperm cells with normal morphology, >  15 × 106 sperm per mL,  >  58% live spermatozoa and leukocyte amount <  106 cells per mL, according to WHO 2010 reference. Semen parameters that deviated from these “normal” values were labeled as “abnormal”. Gene expression ratios revealed significant, moderate, and negative correlations forESR1/ESR2 and weak, negativeESR2/PELP1 correlations in the subgroup of patients with abnormal values of semen parameters. In addition, SRC/PELP1 was moderately and positively correlated in the subgroup with parameters within the reference values established by WHO 2010. Our study showed that both PELP1 scaffolding protein and SRC kinase might influence semen quality via ESRs. It seems that not the expression of a single gene may affect the sperm quality, but more gene-to-gene mutual ratio. Char...
Source: Human Cell - Category: Cytology Source Type: research