title: Intact Cell MALDI-TOF MS on Sperm: A Molecular Test For Male Fertility Diagnosis.
abstract: Currently, evaluation of sperm quality is primarily based on in vitro measures of sperm function such as motility, viability and/or acrosome reaction. However, results are often poorly correlated with fertility, and alternative diagnostic tools are therefore needed both in veterinary and human medicine. In a recent pilot study, we demonstrated that MS profiles from intact chicken sperm using MALDI-TOF profiles could detect significant differences between fertile/subfertile spermatozoa showing that such profiles could be useful for in vitro male fertility testing. In the present study, we performed larger standardized experimental procedures designed for the development of fertility- predictive mathematical models based on sperm cell MALDI-TOF MS profiles acquired through a fast, automated method. This intact cell MALDI-TOF MS-based method showed high diagnostic accuracy in identifying fertile/subfertile males in a large male population of known fertility from two distinct genetic lineages (meat and egg laying lines). We additionally identified 40% of the m/z peaks observed in sperm MS profiles through a top-down high-resolution protein identification analysis. This revealed that the MALDI-TOF MS spectra obtained from intact sperm cells contained a large proportion of protein degradation products, many implicated in important functional pathways in sperm such as energy metabolism, structure and movement. Proteins identified by our predictive model included diverse and important functional classes providing new insights into sperm function as it relates to fertility differences in this experimental system. Thus, in addition to the chicken model system developed here, with the use of appropriate models these methods should effectively translate to other animal taxa where similar tests for fertility are warranted.
authors.affiliation: From the ‡INRA, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; §CNRS, UMR7247, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; ¶Université François Rabelais de Tours, F-37000 Tours, France;
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Soler
authors.affiliation: From the ‡INRA, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; §CNRS, UMR7247, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; ¶Université François Rabelais de Tours, F-37000 Tours, France; ‖IFCE, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; valerie.labas@tours.inra.fr.
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5094-6844
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Labas
authors.affiliation: From the ‡INRA, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; §CNRS, UMR7247, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; ¶Université François Rabelais de Tours, F-37000 Tours, France; ‖IFCE, F-37380 Nouzilly, France;
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2951-2523
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thélie
authors.affiliation: From the ‡INRA, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; §CNRS, UMR7247, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; ¶Université François Rabelais de Tours, F-37000 Tours, France; ‖IFCE, F-37380 Nouzilly, France;
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Grasseau
authors.affiliation: **INRA, Plateforme d'Analyse Intégrative des Biomolécules, Laboratoire de Spectrométrie de Masse, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; ‡‡INRA, UMR1282 Infectiologie et Santé Publique, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; §§Université François Rabelais de Tours, UMR1282 Infectiologie et Santé Publique, F-37000 Tours, France.
authors.forename: Ana-Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Teixeira-Gomes
authors.affiliation: From the ‡INRA, UMR85 Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; §CNRS, UMR7247, F-37380 Nouzilly, France; ¶Université François Rabelais de Tours, F-37000 Tours, France; ‖IFCE, F-37380 Nouzilly, France;
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Blesbois
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002645:Chickens; D005298:Fertility; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D029589:Seminal Plasma Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / Q000379:methods*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D029589:Seminal Plasma Proteins