title: Identification of ten novel genes involved in human spermatogenesis by microarray analysis of testicular tissue.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify novel genes that are down-regulated in the testicular tissue of infertile men.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  University-based reproductive clinics and genetics laboratory.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine patients with normal spermatogenesis, and 15 patients with maturation arrest (MA) or Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCOS).
  
  
  METHODS
  Testicular samples of patients with the same histology were pooled for complementary DNA (cDNA) microarray analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Novel, down-regulated genes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 300 genes were significantly down-regulated in SCOS or MA samples, and 10 novel sterility-related genes were identified. Of the 10 novel genes, 6 genes (Hs.126780, Hs.553658, Hs.274135, Hs.268122, Hs.531701, and Hs.171130) encode proteins with predictable functional domains, and all these functional domains are believed to correlate with spermatogenesis and/or spermiogenesis. Conversely, the other 4 genes (Hs.351582, Hs.407480, Hs.552781, and Hs.355570) do not encompass known functional domains. Two genes (Hs.407480 and Hs.552781) lack mouse orthologues. Most novel genes showed a testis-specific expression pattern in both mice and humans. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) showed three distinct types of developmental stage-dependent expressions of message ribonucleic acid (mRNA) for these novel genes in murine testes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These 10 novel genes provide targets to elucidate novel pathways involved in human spermatogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ying-Hung
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yung-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yen-Ni
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.forename: Tsui-Yu Tracy
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Yi-Shing
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Pao-Lin
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Kuo
mesh_terms: D053713:Azoospermia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D020543:Proteome / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020543:Proteome