Open AccessLectin binding of human sperm associates with DEFB126 mutation and serves as a potential biomarker for subfertility
Author(s) -
Aijie Xin,
Li Cheng,
Hua Diao,
Yanran Wu,
Shumin Zhou,
Changgen Shi,
Yangyang Sun,
Peng Wang,
Shiwei Duan,
Jing Zheng,
Bin Wu,
Yuan Yao,
Yihua Gu,
Guowu Chen,
Xiaoxi Sun,
Huijuan Shi,
Sheng-Ce Tao,
Yonglian Zhang
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/srep20249
Subject(s) - sperm , lectin , glycan , glycobiology , glycomics , biology , male infertility , glycoprotein , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , infertility , pregnancy
Coating on the sperm surface, glycocalyx, plays a key role in sperm motility, maturation and fertilization. A comprehensive profile of sperm surface glycans will greatly facilitate both basic researches and clinical studies. Because of the capability of recognizing different glycan moieties, lectins are widely used in glycobiology. However, lacking high-throughput technology, limited lectins have been reported for analyzing the glycan of human sperm. In this study, we employed a lectin microarray for profiling the surface glycans of human sperm, on which 54 out of 91 lectins showed positive binding. Based on this technique, we compared lectin binding profiling of sperm with homozygous DEFB126 mutation ( del / del ) with that of wild type ( wt / wt ). DEFB126 was reported to contribute to the sialylation on sperm surface and its homozygous mutation was related to male subfertility. Six lectins (Jacalin/AIA, GHA, ACL, MPL, VVL and ABA) were found to develop lower binding affinity to sperm with del / del . Further validation showed that these lectins, especially ABA and MPL, can be potential biomarkers for clinical diagnosis of subfertility due to the mutation of DEFB126 . Our research provides insight into the detection of some unexplained male subfertility, and the lectin microarray is generally applicable for infertility/subfertility sperm biomarker discovery.