Recently, scientists from Rutgers have great discovery which links a protein in sperm to the same molecule needed for reproduction in tiny roundworms. This finding provides a lot of clues to human infertility.
This study was published in Current Biology by Andrew Singson, a professor in the Department of Genetics in the School of Arts and Sciences, and colleagues from the National Institutes of Health and the College of William and Mary in Virginia. During research, the researchers identified a protein, SPE-45, on the sperm of C. elegan worms which help bind sperm to eggs in the state of fertilization. The same condition happens ten years ago, a protein Izumo, named after a marriage shrine in Japan was found by Japanese scientists. This protein is also considered essential for humans and other mammals to reproduce. The study shows that a common ancestor to both worms and humans had a SPE-45/Izumo-like gene which was needed for sperm to function normally during fertilization.
According to research, one in eight couples has fertility problems in America. Though about 70 percent of the cases can be attributed to the man or woman, there is no explanation can be found for the rest of the cases.
In this new study, the researchers discovered that worms produced normal-looking sperm but could not create offspring, which was caused by lack of the SPE-45 protein. It was similar to sperm in humans and other mammals that lacked the Izumo protein. It is supposed that blocking the protein prevents sperm from binding and fusing with the egg. The researchers said that the protein works like molecular Velcro and helps the sperm and egg bind and fuse. Thus, this finding will be of great importance in understanding the biological process.
Because of many ethical and experimental limitations, studying human infertility directly is very difficult. Establishing the genetic connection between worms and humans allows scientists to do related experiments in the future to study more about the function of Izumo-like molecules that they cannot do in mammals, thus improve the treatment of infertility. The next step of the scientists is to find more new fertility genes in the worm to help them understand more about the molecular basis of human fertility.
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