title: In-depth proteomic analysis of the human sperm reveals complex protein compositions.
abstract: The male gamete (sperm) can fertilize an egg, and pass the male genetic information to the offspring. It has long been thought that sperm had a simple protein composition. Efforts have been made to identify the sperm proteome in different species, and only about 1000 proteins were reported. However, with advanced mass spectrometry and an optimized proteomics platform, we successfully identified 4675 human sperm proteins, of which 227 were testis-specific. This large number of identified proteins indicates the complex composition and function of human sperm. Comparison with the sperm transcriptome reveals little overlap, which shows the importance of future studies of sperm at the protein level. Interestingly, many signaling pathways, such as the IL-6, insulin and TGF-beta receptor signaling pathways, were found to be overrepresented. In addition, we found that 500 proteins were annotated as targets of known drugs. Three of four drugs studied were found to affect sperm movement. This in-depth human sperm proteome will be a rich resource for further studies of sperm function, and will provide candidate targets for the development of male contraceptive drugs.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Histology and Embryology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors.forename: Gaigai
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yueshuai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xiaodan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yibo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Mingxi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wenjiao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Suying
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Pan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Chunmei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Zuomin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xuejiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Jiahao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005837:Genitalia, Male / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D020543:Proteome / Q000032:analysis*; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D020543:Proteome