Urine is sensitive to bodily changes and can distinguish normozoospermic infertile men from fertile ones through metabolomics. However, urine proteomics has not been studied for monitoring spermatogenesis, the process where spermatogonial cells divide and differentiate into mature sperm.
In a study (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abst.2024.08.003) by researchers from Gene Engineering Drug and Biotechnology Beijing Key Laboratory at Beijing Normal University, the urinary proteome of male rats on the day of mating and the following day was examined.
“Surprisingly, nearly two-thirds of these differential proteins were related to spermatogenesis,” shares Youhe Gao, senior and corresponding author of the study. "We initially wondered if it was caused by semen contamination.”
“At a later time point, however, there were more sperm-related proteins. If it was semen contamination, it would not have persisted as urine would have removed the semen contamination,” chimed in first author Haitong Wang.
Notably, this finding suggests that the urine proteome has the potential to reflect spermatogenesis without interfering with it, unlike methods that study spermatogenesis through semen collection, which can disrupt the process. “Almost all the differential proteins were present in higher concentrations at the later time point,” adds Wang.
The researchers reported that they used a more reliable label-free quantitative proteomics technique for analyzing proteomes.
“The identification of these differential proteins provides new insights into the biological pathways and processes involved in spermatogenesis,” says Gao. “It could potentially lead to the development of new diagnostic methods or targets for treating abnormal spermatogenesis in males.”
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References
DOI
10.1016/j.abst.2024.08.003
Original Source URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abst.2024.08.003
Funding information
Supported by National Key R&D Program of China（2023YFA1801900）and Beiing Natural Science Foundation (L246002) .
About Advances in Biomarker Sciences and Technology
Advances in Biomarker Sciences and Technology (ABST) is a rigorously peer-reviewed, fully open access journal that aims to encompass all aspects of biomarker research, from biomarker development to its applications, clinical diagnosis and treatment to molecular epidemiology and toxicology; from precision medicine to drug development, and from nanotechnology to bioinformatics. ABST focuses on building upon the next generation of biomarkers to accelerate communication of the latest advances in their identification as well as applications. We strive to achieve this objective by providing a high-quality forum for the publication of biomarker-related investigations, including (but not limited to) general research articles elucidating topics in novel technologies, study designs or mathematical models, invited and selected reviews, short communications and editorials.