Fibronectin as a new biomarker for human sperm selection in assisted reproductive technology

Özet

Objective: Fibronectin (FN) is a multifunctional diametric glycoprotein on the surface of the sperm that playsan important role in the sperm-oocyte interaction and fertilization process. The aim of the present study wasto assess the FN levels as a sperm surface biomarker for sperm selection in assisted reproductive technology.Material and methods: Polyclonal antibody against human FN was produced in rabbit. Its quality, purity,and immune reactivity were assessed by SDS-PAGE and western blot. In addition, the presence of FN on thesperm surface was assessed through immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry. The amount of FN and thesperm quality were assessed in normozoospermia (N) (42 men) and asthenoteratozoospermia (AT) (72 men)groups through sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD), sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA), and chromatinmaturation index (CMI).Results: The results showed the distribution of FN protein on the equatorial region of the human spermsurface. In addition, the FN levels were found to have a significant difference between the two groups with24.64±9.08% in N and 16.90±7.27% in AT (p≤0.0001). In addition, FN level negatively correlated with SCD(p≤0.0001), SCSA (p≤0.0001), and CMI (p≤0.001). Threshold values of FN level and DNA fragmentationindex (DFI) percentage were 16 and 30 and were identified as cut-off values to determine the N group witha specificity of 83.3% and 81.0% and a sensitivity of 16.8% and 19.0%, respectively. The specificity andsensitivity of FN-DFI were 91.2% and 8.8%, respectively.Conclusion: It appears that FN can be used for the selection of sperm with suitable quality, although futurestudies are recommended.