Kamel Ali, Saberiyan Mohammadreza, Mirfakhraie Reza, Teimori Hossein
Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Basic Health Sciences Institute, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran.
Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Andrologia. 2022 Aug;54(7):e14447. doi: 10.1111/and.14447. Epub 2022 Apr 25.
Motility and morphology are two important characteristics of a fertile spermatozoon. CFAP44 gene encodes flagellar protein 44 involved in the formation and function of the flagella and cilia. Long non-coding RNAs are regulatory elements involved in several processes, including reproduction. We aimed to study the alterations in the expressions of CFAP44 and CFAP44-AS1 genes in infertile men with asthenozoospermia and terato-asthenozoospermia. In this case-control study, a total of 105 subjects, including 35 TAZ patients, 34 AZ patients and 35 normozoospermic men, were enrolled. After RNA extraction from spermatozoa samples, quantitative real-time PCR was performed to compare the expression of CFAP44 and CFAP44-AS1 between the studied groups. A meaningful reduction in CFAP44 expression and a significant reduction in the expression of CFAP44-AS1 were observed. Moreover, a positive correlation between both genes' expressions and normal sperm morphology was detected in NZ, AZ and TAZ groups. Also, there was a positive relation between CFAP44 gene expression and sperm motility in AZ and TAZ groups. The expression of CFAP44-AS1 was positively correlated with sperm motility and morphology. Present results confirm the role of CFAP44 and CFAP44-AS1 in the motility and morphology of spermatozoon, and deregulation of these genes may contribute to male infertility.
活力和形态是有生育能力精子的两个重要特征。CFAP44基因编码参与鞭毛和纤毛形成及功能的鞭毛蛋白44。长链非编码RNA是参与包括生殖在内的多个过程的调控元件。我们旨在研究弱精子症和畸形弱精子症不育男性中CFAP44和CFAP44-AS1基因表达的变化。在这项病例对照研究中，共纳入了105名受试者，包括35名畸形弱精子症患者、34名弱精子症患者和35名精子正常的男性。从精子样本中提取RNA后，进行定量实时PCR以比较研究组之间CFAP44和CFAP44-AS1的表达。观察到CFAP44表达有显著降低，CFAP44-AS1的表达也有显著降低。此外，在正常精子组、弱精子症组和畸形弱精子症组中均检测到这两个基因的表达与正常精子形态之间呈正相关。而且，在弱精子症组和畸形弱精子症组中，CFAP44基因表达与精子活力之间存在正相关。CFAP44-AS1的表达与精子活力和形态呈正相关。目前的结果证实了CFAP44和CFAP44-AS1在精子活力和形态方面的作用，这些基因的失调可能导致男性不育。
