RESUMEN
De novo mutations are known to play a prominent role in sporadic disorders with reduced fitness. We hypothesize that de novo mutations play an important role in severe male infertility and explain a portion of the genetic causes of this understudied disorder. To test this hypothesis, we utilize trio-based exome sequencing in a cohort of 185 infertile males and their unaffected parents. Following a systematic analysis, 29 of 145 rare (MAF < 0.1%) protein-altering de novo mutations are classified as possibly causative of the male infertility phenotype. We observed a significant enrichment of loss-of-function de novo mutations in loss-of-function-intolerant genes (p-value = 1.00 × 10-5) in infertile men compared to controls. Additionally, we detected a significant increase in predicted pathogenic de novo missense mutations affecting missense-intolerant genes (p-value = 5.01 × 10-4) in contrast to predicted benign de novo mutations. One gene we identify, RBM5, is an essential regulator of male germ cell pre-mRNA splicing and has been previously implicated in male infertility in mice. In a follow-up study, 6 rare pathogenic missense mutations affecting this gene are observed in a cohort of 2,506 infertile patients, whilst we find no such mutations in a cohort of 5,784 fertile men (p-value = 0.03). Our results provide evidence for the role of de novo mutations in severe male infertility and point to new candidate genes affecting fertility.
Asunto(s)
Azoospermia/genética , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/genética , Proteínas de Unión al ADN/genética , Predisposición Genética a la Enfermedad , Mutación con Pérdida de Función , Mutación Missense , Oligospermia/genética , Proteínas de Unión al ARN/genética , Proteínas Supresoras de Tumor/genética , Adulto , Azoospermia/patología , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/deficiencia , Proteínas de Unión al ADN/deficiencia , Exoma , Expresión Génica , Perfilación de la Expresión Génica , Humanos , Masculino , Oligospermia/patología , Proteínas Supresoras de Tumor/deficiencia , Secuenciación del ExomaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) locus includes several genes with key roles in antigen presentation and immune response, some of them inclusively found to be associated with non-obstructive azoospermia. Still, HLA connections to other infertility phenotypes such as semen hyperviscosity (SHV), asthenozoospermia (AST), and oligozoospermia (OLI) have been often neglected. OBJECTIVES: In this work, we aimed to evaluate the association of HLA class I and II genes with SHV, AST, and OLI phenotypes while exploring a possible role in an adaptive immune response to sexually transmitted diseases (STD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Whole-exome sequencing was performed in a Portuguese cohort of 71 infertility cases and 68 controls, followed by HLA typing using a specific software-HLA*PRG:LA tool. Molecular screenings of seven STD were carried out in a subset of 72 samples (30 cases and 42 controls). RESULTS: Statistical tests uncovered three protective alleles: HLA-A*11:01, associated with all forms of male infertility (p = 0.0006); HLA-DQB1*03:02 with SHV and OLI (PSHV = 0.0303, POLI = 0.0153); and HLA-A*29:02 with OLI (p = 0.0355), which was found to interfere in sperm number together with HPV (p = 0.0313). Five risk alleles were also identified: two linked with SHV (HLA-B*50:01, p = 0.0278; and HLA-C*06:02, p = 0.0461), another one with both SHV and OLI (HLA-DQA1*05:01, PSHV = 0.0444 and POLI =0.0265), and two with OLI (HLA-C*03:03, p = 0.0480; and HLA-DQB1*03:01, p = 0.0499). Here, HLA-C*03:03 carriers tend to be HPV infected. CONCLUSIONS: The application of HLA*PRG:LA tool to the study of male infertility provided novel insights for an HLA correlation with semen quality, namely among SHV and OLI phenotypes. The discovery of an HLA-A*29:02/HPV crosstalk, together with former reports of HLA alleles conferring resistance-susceptibility to diverse human pathogens, raises the hypothesis of a mechanistic link between male infertility, HLA polymorphism, and host response to STD.
Asunto(s)
Predisposición Genética a la Enfermedad/genética , Antígenos de Histocompatibilidad Clase II/genética , Antígenos de Histocompatibilidad Clase I/genética , Enfermedades de Transmisión Sexual/inmunología , Motilidad Espermática/genética , Adulto , Astenozoospermia/genética , Azoospermia/genética , Dosificación de Gen/genética , Perfilación de la Expresión Génica , Antígenos HLA-A/genética , Antígenos HLA-B/genética , Antígenos HLA-C/genética , Cadenas beta de HLA-DQ/genética , Humanos , Masculino , Oligospermia/genética , Análisis de Semen , Transcriptoma/genéticaRESUMEN
Workshops are an important part of the IFPA annual meeting as they allow for discussion of specialized topics. At IFPA meeting 2011 there were twelve themed workshops, four of which are summarized in this report. These workshops related to both basic science and clinical research into placental growth and nutrient sensing and were divided into 1) placenta: predicting future health; 2) roles of lipids in the growth and development of feto-placental unit; 3) placental nutrient sensing; 4) placental research to solve clinical problems: a translational approach.
