PMID- 34299219
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20210817
LR  - 20210817
IS  - 1422-0067 (Electronic)
IS  - 1422-0067 (Linking)
VI  - 22
IP  - 14
DP  - 2021 Jul 15
TI  - Telomere Distribution in Human Sperm Heads and Its Relation to Sperm Nuclear 
      Morphology: A New Marker for Male Factor Infertility?
LID - 10.3390/ijms22147599 [doi]
LID - 7599
AB  - Infertility is a problem affecting an increasing number of couples worldwide. 
      Currently, marker tests for male factor infertility are complex, highly technical 
      and relatively subjective. Up to 40% of cases of male factor infertility are 
      currently diagnosed as idiopathic therefore, there is a clear need for further 
      research into better ways of diagnosing it. Changes in sperm telomere length have 
      been associated with infertility and closely linked to DNA damage and 
      fragmentation, which are also known to be related to infertility. However, 
      telomere distribution is a parameter thus far underexplored as an infertility 
      marker. Here, we assessed morphological parameters of sperm nuclei in fertile 
      control and male factor infertile cohorts. In addition, we used 2D and 3D 
      fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to compare telomere distribution 
      between these two groups. Our findings indicate that the infertile cohort sperm 
      nuclei were, on average, 2.9% larger in area and showed subtle differences in 
      sperm head height and width. Telomeres were mainly distributed towards the 
      periphery of the nuclei in the control cohort, with diminishing telomere signals 
      towards the center of the nuclei. Sperm nuclei of infertile males, however, had 
      more telomere signals towards the center of the nuclei, a finding supported by 3D 
      imaging. We conclude that, with further development, both morphology and telomere 
      distribution may prove useful investigative tools in the fertility clinic.
FAU - Turner, Kara J
AU  - Turner KJ
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-7500-0214
AD  - School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Giles Lane, Canterbury CT2 7NH, UK.
FAU - Watson, Eleanor M
AU  - Watson EM
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-1290-4360
AD  - School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, 
      UK.
FAU - Skinner, Benjamin M
AU  - Skinner BM
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-7152-1167
AD  - School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, 
      UK.
FAU - Griffin, Darren K
AU  - Griffin DK
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-7595-3226
AD  - School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Giles Lane, Canterbury CT2 7NH, UK.
LA  - eng
GR  - TBC/MRC_/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20210715
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Int J Mol Sci
JT  - International journal of molecular sciences
JID - 101092791
RN  - 0 (Biomarkers)
SB  - IM
MH  - Biomarkers/metabolism
MH  - Case-Control Studies
MH  - Cell Nucleus/genetics/metabolism/pathology
MH  - Cohort Studies
MH  - *DNA Damage
MH  - Humans
MH  - Infertility, Male/genetics/*metabolism/*pathology
MH  - Male
MH  - Sperm Head/metabolism/*pathology
MH  - Telomere/genetics/*metabolism
PMC - PMC8306796
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - infertility
OT  - nuclear morphology
OT  - nuclear organization
OT  - sperm
OT  - telomere
COIS- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
EDAT- 2021/07/25 06:00
MHDA- 2021/08/18 06:00
PMCR- 2021/07/15
CRDT- 2021/07/24 01:02
PHST- 2021/06/02 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2021/06/29 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2021/07/01 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2021/07/24 01:02 [entrez]
PHST- 2021/07/25 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/08/18 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2021/07/15 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - ijms22147599 [pii]
AID - ijms-22-07599 [pii]
AID - 10.3390/ijms22147599 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Jul 15;22(14):7599. doi: 10.3390/ijms22147599.