Whole-Genome Profile of Greek Patients with Teratozοοspermia: Identification of Candidate Variants and Genes

Maria-Anna Kyrgiafini; Themistoklis Giannoulis; Alexia Chatziparasidou; Nikolaos Christoforidis; Zissis Mamuris

doi:10.3390/genes13091606

Whole-Genome Profile of Greek Patients with Teratozοοspermia: Identification of Candidate Variants and Genes

Genes (Basel). 2022 Sep 8;13(9):1606. doi: 10.3390/genes13091606.

Authors

Maria-Anna Kyrgiafini¹, Themistoklis Giannoulis², Alexia Chatziparasidou³, Nikolaos Christoforidis³, Zissis Mamuris¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Genetics, Comparative and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly, Viopolis, Mezourlo, 41500 Larissa, Greece.
² Laboratory of Biology, Genetics and Bioinformatics, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Thessaly, Gaiopolis, 41336 Larissa, Greece.
³ Embryolab IVF Unit, St. 173-175 Ethnikis Antistaseos, Kalamaria, 55134 Thessaloniki, Greece.

Abstract

Male infertility is a global health problem that affects a large number of couples worldwide. It can be categorized into specific subtypes, including teratozoospermia. The present study aimed to identify new variants associated with teratozoospermia in the Greek population and to explore the role of genes on which these were identified. For this reason, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on normozoospermic and teratozoospermic individuals, and after selecting only variants found in teratozoospermic men, these were further prioritized using a wide range of tools, functional and predictive algorithms, etc. An average of 600,000 variants were identified, and of them, 61 were characterized as high impact and 153 as moderate impact. Many of these are mapped in genes previously associated with male infertility, yet others are related for the first time to teratozoospermia. Furthermore, pathway enrichment analysis and Gene ontology (GO) analyses revealed the important role of the extracellular matrix in teratozoospermia. Therefore, the present study confirms the contribution of genes studied in the past to male infertility and sheds light on new molecular mechanisms by providing a list of variants and candidate genes associated with teratozoospermia in the Greek population.

Keywords: Greece; male infertility; next-generation sequencing; teratozoospermia; whole-genome sequencing (WGS).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Gene Ontology
Greece
Humans
Infertility, Male* / genetics
Male
Teratozoospermia* / genetics
Whole Genome Sequencing

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Spermogene project which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH–CREATE–INNOVATE (Grant number Τ1ΕΔK-02787).