Influence of cryopreservation on the CATSPER 2 and TEKT2 expression levels and protein levels in human spermatozoa

Eiman Alshawa; Mohammed Laqqan; Mathias Montenarh; Mohamad Eid Hammadeh

doi:10.1016/j.toxrep.2019.08.004

Influence of cryopreservation on the CATSPER 2 and TEKT2 expression levels and protein levels in human spermatozoa

Toxicol Rep. 2019 Aug 6:6:819-824. doi: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2019.08.004. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Eiman Alshawa¹, Mohammed Laqqan¹, Mathias Montenarh², Mohamad Eid Hammadeh¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Assisted Reproduction Laboratory, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany.
² Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany.

Abstract

This study designed to assess the expression level of CATSPER2 and TEKT2 and to evaluate the levels of CatSper2 and Tektin2 proteins in human spermatozoa before and after cryopreservation. One hundred and twenty semen samples were included in this study. All the samples were subjected to qPCR and Western blot analysis. The results showed a significant reduction in the expression levels of CATSPER2 and TEKT2 in the cryopreserved compared to the fresh samples (P = 0.0039 and P = 0.0166, respectively), and the results showed down-regulation in the expression level of CATSPER2 and TEKT2 genes between the study groups. Moreover, the protein levels of the CatSper2 and Tektin2 were lower in cryopreserved samples compared to fresh samples (P = 0.0001). In conclusion, the reduction in the proteins level and expression level of the CATSPER2 and TEKT2 in cryopreserved samples could be used as an indicator of sperm motility loss.

Keywords: CATSPER2; Cryopreservation; Spermatozoa; TEKT2.