Rnf138 deficiency promotes apoptosis of spermatogonia in juvenile male mice.

Spermatogenesis, the process by which haploid sperm cells are produced from a diploid precursor cell, is essential for sexual reproduction. Here, we report that RING-finger protein 138 (Rnf138) is highly expressed in testes, especially in spermatogonia and spermatocytes. The role of Rnf138 in spermatogenesis was examined using a Rnf138-knockout mouse model. Rnf138 deficiency resulted in increased apoptosis in spermatogenic cells, loss of proliferative spermatogonia, delayed development of spermatozoa and impaired fertility. The proportion of PLZF+Ki67+ cells within the PLZF+ population decreased in the knockout mice. The phenotype was further assessed by RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq), which determined that the expression levels of many genes involved in spermatogenesis were altered in the testis of Rnf138-knockout mice. Thus, Rnf138 deficiency promotes the apoptosis of spermatogenic cells, which may have been caused by the aberrant proliferation of spermatogonia in mouse testis development.

RHBDD1 upregulates EGFR via the AP-1 pathway in colorectal cancer.

Our previous study showed that RHBDD1 can activate the EGFR signaling pathway to promote colorectal cancer growth. In the present study, EGFR was decreased when RHBDD1 was knocked down or inactivated. Further analysis found that c-Jun and EGFR protein expression was decreased in RHBDD1 knockdown and inactivated cells. c-Jun overexpression in RHBDD1-inactivated cells rescued EGFR expression in a dose-dependent manner. RHBDD1 overexpression in RHBDD1-inactivated cells restored EGFR expression, but this effect was counteracted by c-Jun knockdown. Furthermore, EGFR and c-Jun were attenuated in the RHBDD1 knockdown and inactivated groups in animal tumor models. Tissue microarray assays demonstrated a correlation between RHBDD1 and EGFR in colorectal cancer patients. Therefore, our findings indicate that RHBDD1 stimulates EGFR expression by promoting the AP-1 pathway.

Immune Infertility Should Be Positively Diagnosed Using an Accurate Method by Monitoring the Level of Anti-ACTL7a Antibody.

Infertility is currently a major public health problem. Anti-sperm antibodies (ASAs) markedly reduce sperm quality, which can subsequently lead to male and/or female infertility. The accurate detection of ASAs derived from specific spermatozoa is, therefore, clinically useful. We have focused on the spermatozoa-specific expression protein ACTL7a for many years and have developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect the concentration of anti-ACTL7a antibodies in fertile sera (n = 267) and infertile sera (n = 193). Infertile sera were collected from the positive sera of tray agglutination tests (TAT), which is a routine ASA screening methodology. We found that the concentration of anti-ACTL7a antibodies was significantly higher in the infertile sera (than in the fertile sera, P < 0.0001) and much higher in the TAT ≥ 16 infertile sera. The ELISA was much better for male sera detection (AUC = 0.9899). If we set the standard at a strongly positive value (calculated by ROC curve), the positive predictive value of the antibody detection reached 100 percent, with a false positive rate of zero. The developed ELISA method for anti-ACTL7a antibody detection is therefore sensitive, accurate, and easy to perform, making it an excellent potential tool for future clinical use.

Anti-GAPDHS antibodies: a biomarker of immune infertility.

Numerous investigations have focused on the detection of antisperm antibodies, which have a naturally occurring impact on male and female fertility. In this study, spermatogenic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDHS) was considered to be a candidate biomarker of immune infertility. The concentrations of anti-GAPDHS antibodies in the sera of sterile individuals and fertile couples were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Sera were collected from immune infertile (n = 175) and fertile (n = 237) individuals and were screened by tray agglutination tests (TAT). Infertile sera were further divided into two groups according to the serum titers obtained by TAT (titers ≤ 1:8, n = 58; titers > 1:8, n = 117). The concentrations of anti-GAPDHS antibodies were significantly higher in the immune infertile group than in the fertile group and were much higher with regard to the increased degrees of sperm agglutination (titers > 1:8). Surprisingly, we found statistically significantly higher concentrations of antibodies in the sera of infertile men than in those of infertile women, and a similar statistical result was obtained in the sera when primary infertility was compared with secondary infertility. Thus, anti-GAPDHS antibodies seem to be a sensitive parameter in immune infertile detection and might be one of the main factors causing immune infertility. This factor might be valuable as an indicator in the clinical diagnosis and monitoring treatment of infertility.