A sperm-specific proteome-scale metabolic network model identifies non-glycolytic genes for energy deficiency in asthenozoospermia.

A sperm-specific proteome-scale metabolic network model identifies non-glycolytic genes for energy deficiency in asthenozoospermia. Syst Biol Reprod Med. 2017 Jan 13;:1-13 Authors: Asghari A, Marashi SA, Ansari-Pour N Abstract About 15% of couples experience difficulty in conceiving a child, of which half of the cases are thought to be male-related. Asthenozoospermia, or low sperm motility, is one of the frequent types of male infertility. Although energy metabolism is suggested to be central to the etiology of asthenozoospermia, very few attempts have been made to identify its underlying metabolic pathways. Here, we reconstructed SpermNet, the first proteome-scale model of the sperm cell by using whole-proteome data and the mCADRE algorithm. The reconstructed model was then analyzed using the COBRA toolbox. Genes were knocked-out in the model to investigate their effect on ATP production. A total of 78 genes elevated ATP production rate considerably of which most encode components of oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid oxidation, the Krebs cycle, and members of the solute carrier 25 family. Among them, we identified 11 novel genes which have previously not been associated with sperm cell energy metabolism and may thus be implicated in asthenozoospermia. We further examined the reconstructed model by in silico knock out of currently known asthenozoospermia implicated-genes that were not predicted by our model. The pathways affected...
Source: Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine - Category: Reproduction Medicine Authors: Tags: Syst Biol Reprod Med Source Type: research