title: Expression analysis of MND1/GAJ, SPATA22, GAPDHS and ACR genes in testicular biopsies from non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  High-throughput studies provide a wide spectrum of genes for use as predictive markers during testicular sperm extraction (TESE) in combination with ICSI. In this work, we used the specimens from testicular biopsies of men with non-obstructive azoospermia who underwent TESE to investigate the expression of spermatogenesis-related genes MND1, SPATA22, GAPDHS and ACR.
  
  
  METHODS
  Testicular biopsy specimens were subdivided into three groups: hypospermatogenesis (HS); maturation arrest (MA); and Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCO). The levels of expression of the spermatogenesis-related genes MND1, SPATA22, GAPDHS and ACR in the testes were compared among these three groups using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analysis of the expression of spermatogenic genes in human testes with abnormal spermatogenesis showed different expression patterns in patients from different groups. Fertilization rate for studied set of patients was 66% and pregnancy rate 29%. For HS group fertilization rate was 72% and pregnancy rate 32%, while for MA group fertilization and pregnancy rates were 54% and 26%, respectively. Fertilization rates in relation to the studied genes were uniformly around 70%, pregnancy rates for ACR and GAPDHS genes were surprisingly low at 6% and 8% correspondingly.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Analysis of the expression of genes involved in spermatogenesis can be a fast additional test for the level of spermatogenesis in testicular samples.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Biotechnology AS CR,v, v, i,, Videnska 1083, 142 20, Prague 4, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Andriy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dorosh
authors.forename: Olina
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tepla
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zatecka
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ded
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koci
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peknicova
mesh_terms: D000176:Acrosin / Q000235:genetics*; D000328:Adult; D053713:Azoospermia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D001706:Biopsy; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009845:Oligospermia / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D054331:Sertoli Cell-Only Syndrome / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic; D053625:Sperm Retrieval; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000235:genetics; D013733:Testicular Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; C510357:MND1 protein, human; C583627:SPATA22 protein, human; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases; D000176:Acrosin