Department of Reproduction and Development, Reproductive Biomedicine Center, Royan Institute for Animal Biotechnology, ACECR, Isfahan, Iran.
Hum Reprod. 2011 Nov;26(11):2950-6. doi: 10.1093/humrep/der285. Epub 2011 Sep 6.
Failed fertilization post-ICSI has been mainly attributed to the sperm's inability to induce oocyte activation. Phospholipase C zeta (PLCζ) is considered to be one of the factors for the induction of oocyte activation. The aim of this study was to quantitatively assess the expression of PLCζ in globozoospermic men or those with previously low or failed fertilization in comparison with fertile men or those with high fertilization potential. In addition, the relationship between expression of PLCζ and that of other sperm markers was evaluated.
Real-time PCR was carried out to evaluate relative expression of PLCζ mRNA. Chromatin maturity and acrosin activity were assessed by CMA3 staining and a colorimetric method.
The expression of PLCζ was significantly lower in globozoospermic men (P< 0.01, n= 8) or individuals with previously low or failed fertilization (P< 0.01, n= 36) in comparison to fertile men (n= 24). In addition, a significant difference was observed between globozoospermic (P< 0.01) and individuals with previously low or failed fertilization (P= 0.003) in comparison to high fertilization individuals (n= 17). Expression of PLCζ was not correlated with either chromatin maturity or acrosin activity. However, a significant correlation was observed between the percentage of fertilization and relative expression of PLCζ (r= 0.4, P< 0.01).
In this study, for the first time, we have shown that assessment of relative expression of PLCζ may provide a useful marker for the ability of sperm to induce oocyte activation after ICSI.
卵胞浆内单精子注射（ICSI）后受精失败主要归因于精子无法诱导卵母细胞激活。磷酸脂酶 C ζ（PLCζ）被认为是诱导卵母细胞激活的因素之一。本研究旨在定量评估 PLCζ 在圆头精子症患者或既往受精率低或失败患者与正常生育力男性或高受精潜能男性中的表达。此外，还评估了 PLCζ 表达与其他精子标志物表达之间的关系。
实时 PCR 用于评估 PLCζ mRNA 的相对表达。通过 CMA3 染色和比色法评估染色质成熟度和顶体酶活性。
圆头精子症患者（P<0.01，n=8）或既往受精率低或失败患者（P<0.01，n=36）的 PLCζ 表达明显低于正常生育力男性（n=24）。此外，圆头精子症患者（P<0.01）和既往受精率低或失败患者（P=0.003）与高受精潜能患者（n=17）之间也观察到显著差异。PLCζ 表达与染色质成熟度或顶体酶活性均无相关性。然而，PLCζ 相对表达与受精率之间存在显著相关性（r=0.4，P<0.01）。
在这项研究中，我们首次表明，PLCζ 相对表达的评估可能为 ICSI 后精子诱导卵母细胞激活的能力提供一个有用的标志物。
