Taste receptor type 1 member 3 regulates Western diet-induced male infertility

Abstract

Western diet (WD), characterized by a high intake of fats and sugary drinks, is a risk factor for male reproductive impairment. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this remain unclear. Taste receptor type 1 member 3 (TAS1R3), activated by ligands of WD, is highly expressed in extra-oral tissues, particularly in the testes. Here, we investigated to determine the effects of WD intake on male reproduction and whether TAS1R3 mediates WD-induced impairment in male reproduction. Male C57BL/6 J wild-type (WT) and Tas1r3 knockout (KO) mice were fed either a normal diet and plain water (ND) or a 60 % high-fat-diet and 30 % (w/v) sucrose water (WD) for 18 weeks (n = 7-9/group). Long-term WD consumption significantly impaired sperm count, motility and testicular morphology in WT mice with marked Tas1r3 overexpression, whereas Tas1r3 KO mice were protected from WD-induced reproductive impairment. Testicular transcriptome analysis revealed downregulated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling and significantly elevated AMPK-targeted nuclear receptor 4A1 (Nr4a1) expression in WD-fed Tas1r3 KO mice. In vitro studies further validated that Tas1r3 knockdown in Leydig cells prevented the suppression of Nr4a1 and downstream steroidogenic genes (Star, Cyp11a1, Cyp17a1, and Hsd3b1) caused by high glucose, fructose, and palmitic acid levels, and maintained the levels of testosterone. Additionally, we analyzed the public human dataset to assess the clinical implications of our findings and confirmed a significant association between TAS1R3 and male-infertility-related diseases. Our findings suggest that TAS1R3 regulates WD-induced male reproductive impairment via the AMPK/NR4A1 signaling and can be a novel therapeutic target for male infertility.

Keywords: AMPK signaling; Infertility; NR4A1; Taste receptor; Testosterone; Western diet.