Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33650822›Full record

ArticleCell journal2021

Assessment of Atg7 and LC3II/LC3, as The Markers of Autophagy, in Sperm of Infertile Men with Globozoospermia: A Case-Control Study.

Shaghayegh Foroozan-Boroojeni, Marziyeh Tavalaee, Zahra Zakeri, Richard A Lockshin, Mohammad Hossein Nasr-Esfahani

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cell journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
2.9field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Shaghayegh Foroozan-BoroojeniDepartment of Animal Biotechnology, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Biotechnology, ACECR, Isfahan, Iran.
Marziyeh TavalaeeDepartment of Animal Biotechnology, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Biotechnology, ACECR, Isfahan, Iran.
Zahra ZakeriDepartment of Biology, Queens College and Graduate Center of The City University of New York, Flushing, NY, USA.
Richard A LockshinDepartment of Biology, Queens College and Graduate Center of The City University of New York, Flushing, NY, USA.
Mohammad Hossein Nasr-EsfahaniDepartment of Animal Biotechnology, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Biotechnology, ACECR, Isfahan, Iran. Email: mh.nasr-esfahani@royaninstitute.org.
Royan Institute · IRIsfahan Fertility and Infertility Center · IRSt. John's University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveAssessment of relationship between LC3II/LC3 and Autophagy-related 7 (Atg7) proteins, as markers of autophagy, as well as evaluating the sperm parameters and DNA fragmentation in spermatozoa of infertile men with globozoospermia. MATERIALS AND

methodsIn this case-control study, 10 semen samples from infertile men with globozoospermia and 10 fertile individuals were collected, and the sperm parameters, sperm DNA fragmentation, and main autophagy markers (Atg7 and LC3II/LC3) were assessed according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, TUNEL assay, and western blot technique, respectively.

resultsThe mean of sperm concentration and motility were significantly lower, while the percentage of abnormal spermatozoa and DNA fragmentation were significantly higher in infertile men with globozoospermia compared to fertile individuals (P<0.01). Unlike the relative expression of LC3II/LC3 that did not significantly differ between the two groups, the relative expression of ATG7 was significantly higher in infertile men with globozoospermia compared to fertile individuals (P <0.05). There was a significantly negative correlation between the sperm concentration (r=-0.679; P=0.005) and motility (r=-0.64; P=0.01) with the expression of ATG7, while a significantly positive association was founf between the percentage of DNA fragmentation and expression of ATG7 (0.841; P =0.018).

conclusionThe increased expression of ATG7 and unaltered expression of LC3II/LC3 may indicate that the autophagy pathway is initiated but not completely executed in spermatozoa of individuals with globozoospermia. A significant correlation of ATG7 expression with increased sperm DNA fragmentation, reduced sperm concentration, and sperm motility may associate with the activation of a compensatory mechanism for promoting deficient spermatozoa to undergo cell death by the autophagy pathway. Therfore, this pathway could act as a double-edged sword that, at the physiological level, is involved in acrosome biogenesis, while, at the pathological level, such as globozoospermia, could act as a compensatory mechanism.

Indexed as

AcrosomeAutophagyChromatinGlobozoospermiaInfertility

Identifiers

PMID33650822
PMCPMC7944124
OpenAlexW3135251163

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.