Fertility and Sterility
Volume 87, Issue 3 , Pages 572-583 , March 2007

Characterization of human sperm populations using conventional parameters, surface ubiquitination, and apoptotic markers

  • Sandra Varum, B.Sc.

      Affiliations

    • Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Department of Zoology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
    • ,
  • Carla Bento, B.Sc.

      Affiliations

    • Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Department of Zoology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
    • ,
  • Ana Paula M. Sousa, B.Sc.

      Affiliations

    • Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Department of Zoology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
    • ,
  • Carina S.S. Gomes-Santos, B.Sc.

      Affiliations

    • Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Department of Zoology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
    • ,
  • Paula Henriques, B.Sc.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Genetics and Human Reproduction, University Hospitals of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
    • ,
  • Teresa Almeida-Santos, Ph.D., M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Genetics and Human Reproduction, University Hospitals of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
    • ,
  • Cristina Teodósio, B.Sc.

      Affiliations

    • Histocompatibility Centre of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
    • ,
  • Artur Paiva, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Histocompatibility Centre of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
    • ,
  • João Ramalho-Santos, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Department of Zoology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests: João Ramalho-Santos, Ph.D., Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Department of Zoology, University of Coimbra, 3004-517 Coimbra, Portugal (FAX: +351 239 855789).

Received 5 October 2005 ,Revised 21 July 2006 ,Accepted 21 July 2006.

References 

  1. Ozanon C, Chouteau J, Sutovsky P. Clinical adaptation of the sperm ubuquitin tag immunoassay (SUTI): relationship of sperm ubiquitylation with sperm quality in gradient-purified semen samples from 93 men from a general infertility clinic population. Hum Reprod. 2005;20:2271–2278
  2. World Health Organization. In: WHO Laboratory manual for the examination of human semen and sperm-cervical mucus interaction. 4th ed.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1999;
  3. Evenson DP, Larson KJ, Jost LK. Sperm chromatin structure assay: its clinical use for detecting sperm DNA fragmentation in male infertility and comparisons with other techniques. J Androl. 2002;23:25–43
  4. Gandini L, Lombardo F, Paoli D, Caponecchia L, Familiari G, Verlengia C, et al. Study of apoptotic DNA fragmentation in human spermatozoa. Hum Reprod. 2000;15:830–839
  5. Sakkas D, Mariethoz E, Manicardi G, Bizzaro D, Bianchi P, Bianchi U. Origin of DNA damage in ejaculated human spermatozoa. Rev Reprod. 1999;4:31–37
  6. Sinha Hikim AP, Swerdloff RS. Hormonal and genetic control of germ cell apoptosis in the testis. Rev Reprod. 1999;4:38–47
  7. Shen HM, Dai J, Chia SE, Lim A, Ong CN. Detection of apoptotic alterations in sperm in subfertile patients and their correlations with sperm quality. Hum Reprod. 2002;17:1266–1273
  8. Barroso G, Morshedi M, Oehninger S. Analysis of DNA fragmentation, plasma membrane translocation of phosphatidylserine and oxidative stress in human spermatozoa. Hum Reprod. 2000;15:1338–1344
  9. Oosterhuis GJE, Mulder AB, Kalsbeek-Batenburg E, Lambalk CB, Schoemaker J, Vermes I. Measuring apoptosis in human spermatozoa: a biological assay for semen quality?. Fertil Steril. 2000;74:245–250
  10. Muratori M, Piomboni P, Baldi E, Filimberti E, Pecchioli P, Moretti E. Functional and ultrastructural features of DNA-fragmented human sperm. J Androl. 2000;21:903–912
  11. Sutovsky P, Hausser R, Sutovsky M. Increased levels of sperm ubiquitin correlate with semen quality in men from an andrology laboratory clinic population. Hum Reprod. 2004;19:628–638
  12. Hochstrasser M. Ubiquitin – dependent protein degradation. Annu Rev Genet. 1996;30:405–439
  13. Sutovsky P, Terada Y, Schatten G. Ubiquitin-based sperm assay for the diagnosis of male factor infertility. Hum Reprod. 2001;16:250–258
  14. Muratori M, Marchiani S, Forti G, Baldi E. Sperm ubiquitination positively correlates to normal morphology in human semen. Hum Reprod. 2005;20:1035–1043
  15. Muratori M, Porazzi I, Luconi M, Marchiani S, Forti G, Baldi E. Annexin V binding and merocyanine staining fail to detect human sperm capacitation. J Androl. 2004;24:797–810
  16. Mota PC, Ramalho-Santos J. Comparison between different markers for sperm quality in the cat: Diff-Quik as a simple optical technique to assess changes in the DNA of feline epididymal sperm. Theriogenology. 2006;65:1360–1375
  17. Kruger TF, Menkveld R, Stander FS, Lombard CJ, Van der Merwe JP, Van Zyl JA, et al. Sperm morphologic features as a prognostic factor in in-vitro fertilization. Fertil Steril. 1986;46:1118–1123
  18. Irvine DS, Twigg JP, Gordon EL, Fulton N, Milne PA, Aitken RJ. DNA integrity in human spermatozoa: relationships with semen quality. J Androl. 2000;21:33–43
  19. Huang CC, Lin DP, Tsao HM, Cheng TC, Liu CH, Lee MS. Sperm DNA fragmentation negatively correlates with velocity and fertilization rates but might no affect pregnancy rates. Fertil Steril. 2005;84:130–140
  20. Sutovsky P, Neuber E, Schatten G. Ubiquitin – dependent sperm quality control mechanism recognizes spermatozoa with DNA defects as revealed by dual ubiquitin-TUNEL assay. Mol Reprod Dev. 2002;61:406–413

 Supported by a grant from the Portuguese National Science Foundation (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, FCT) to J.R.-S. (POCTI/ESP/38049/2001). S.V. and A.P.S. are supported by Ph.D. grants from FCT, Portugal.

PII: S0015-0282(06)04005-2

doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2006.07.1528

Fertility and Sterility
Volume 87, Issue 3 , Pages 572-583 , March 2007

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution