Prostasomes, a secretory particle from prostate gland in human seminal fluid plays a role in enhancing the fertility and its absence or less presence will lead to male infertility. Very few fertility associated proteins were detected in prostasomes. In order to isolate the prostasomes from ejaculated semen, the characterization was done using biochemical, molecular and in silico methods. The objective of current work on prostasomes is to identify a novel protein biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of male infertility. Semen samples were collected, primary semen analysis was done and prostasomes were isolated from ejaculated semen of fertile and infertile categories. Biochemical parameters like protein content, total antioxidant capacity, cholesterol content were evaluated in prostasomes. The critical expressed protein was identified by using SDS page and MALDI TOF techniques. Isolated particle from the semen samples was confirmed as prostasomes from SEM analysis and particle size analyzer. In MALDI results, the maximum hit was obtained against Clusterin that been reported to be involved in capacitation and motility of sperm. Structural modeling and molecular dynamics were carried out on Clusterin and elucidate the structural insights in the dynamic system. Overall, our study reported the novel biomarker Clusterin in prostasomes for diagnosis and prognosis of male infertility.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
Keywords: Clusterin; Male infertility; molecular dynamics simulation; prostasomes; threading.