title: [Polymorphism of Usp26 correlates with idiopathic male infertility].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the correlation of nucleotide polymorphism in the ubiquitin-specific protease 26 (Usp26) gene with idiopathic male infertility and its action mechanism in spermatogenesis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on the WHO criteria (4th ed.), we selected 41 patients with idiopathic infertility from 150 infertile males, and enlisted 50 normal fertile men as controls. We examined the selected patients for mutations using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analysis, and determined how and where the mutations occurred by gene sequencing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Low sperm concentration and poor sperm motility were found in the 41 men with idiopathic infertility. Nine (22.0%) of them exhibited changes in the Usp26 gene (P = 0.01), including compound mutations of 364insACA and 460G > A in 8 (19.5%, P = 0.01) and 1 044T > A substitution in 1 (2.4%, P > 0.05). The above three variations led to changes in the coding amino acids. No other changes were found in the remaining patients and normal fertile controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The nucleotide polymorphisms of the Usp26 gene might be closely related with idiopathic male infertility, and exert negative effect on the testis function.
authors.affiliation: Center of Reproductive Medicine, Dalian Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Dalian, Liaoning 116021, China. zhangjiexjtu_09@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiao-Guang
authors.initials: XG
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Yan-Bin
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Shu-Dong
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D055101:Semen Analysis
chemical_list: C501866:USP26 protein, human; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases