title: Gene expression in the epididymis of normal and vasectomized men: what can we learn about human sperm maturation?
abstract: Anatomically, the human epididymis is unusual when compared with the  excurrent duct of other eutherian mammals. Furthermore, clinical observations  suggest that it may not be as important for sperm maturation as is the case  for laboratory animals. In contrast, hierarchical clustering of microarray  data of epididymides from normal men revealed 2274 modulated qualifiers  between the epididymal segments, 1184, 713, and 269 of them being highly  expressed in the caput, corpus, and cauda, respectively. The organization of  qualifiers according to their similarities by gene ontology indicated that  caput transcripts are dedicated to cell-cell adhesion, whereas the corpus is  characterized by genes involved in response to other organisms (ie, defense  mechanisms) and the cauda transcriptome is specialized in muscle contraction  and establishment of localization. A region-specific gene expression pattern  thus characterizes the human epididymis as in animal models. In humans,  vasectomies have consequences on the epididymal transcriptome. Cluster  analysis revealed that 1363 genes are expressed in both normal and  vasectomized epididymides, whereas 911 and 660 of them are specifically  expressed in normal and vasectomized epididymides, respectively. Three of the  affected genes are particularly interesting because of their involvement in  sperm biochemical remodeling during epididymal transit:  dicarbonyl/l-xylulose reductase, Niemann-Pick disease, type C2, and  cysteine-rich secretory protein 1. In some vasovasostomized men, these  modifications in gene expression induced by vasectomy are irreversible, thus  affecting the biochemical parameters, and potentially, the function of their  ejaculated sperm. This may explain the discrepancies between a surgically  successful vasovasostomy and fertility recovery.
authors: Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université Laval, 2705 boulevard Laurier, T1-49, Quebec City, QC, Canada. robert.sullivan@crchul.ulaval.ca
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Sullivan
authors: Christine
authors: C
authors: Legare
authors: Michel
authors: M
authors: Thabet
authors: Véronique
authors: V
authors: Thimon
mesh_terms: D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004822:Epididymis / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013079:Sperm Maturation / Q000235:genetics*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism; D013401:Sugar Alcohol Dehydrogenases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D059467:Transcriptome; D014659:Vasectomy; D014669:Vasovasostomy; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins
chemical_list: C103538:CRISP1 protein, human; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D006023:Glycoproteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; C104585:NPC2 protein, human; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins; D013401:Sugar Alcohol Dehydrogenases; C023300:L-xylulose reductase