Abstract

Spermatogenesis is a complex process related to male infertility. Till now, the critical genes and specific mechanisms have not been elucidated clearly. Our objective was to determine the hub genes that play a crucial role in spermatogenesis by analyzing the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) present in non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) compared to OA and normal samples using bioinformatics analysis. Four datasets, namely GSE45885, GSE45887, GSE9210 and GSE145467 were used. Functional enrichment analyses were performed on the DEGs. Hub genes were identified based on protein–protein interactions between DEGs. The expression of the hub genes was further examined in the testicular germ cell tumors from the TCGA by the GEPIA and validated by qRT-PCR in the testes of lipopolysaccharide-induced acute orchitis mice with impaired spermatogenesis. A total of 203 DEGs including 34 up-regulated and 169 down-regulated were identified. Functional enrichment analysis showed DEGs were mainly involved in microtubule motility, the process of cell growth and protein transport. PRM2, TEKT2, FSCN3, UBQLN3, SPATS1 and GTSF1L were identified and validated as hub genes for spermatogenesis. Three of them (PRM2, FSCN3 and TEKT2) were significantly down-regulated in the testicular germ cell tumors and their methylation levels were associated with the pathogenesis. In summary, the hub genes identified may be related to spermatogenesis and may act as potential therapeutic targets for NOA and testicular germ cell tumors.

Details

Title
Identification of hub genes associated with spermatogenesis by bioinformatics analysis
Author
Liu, Shuang 1 ; Bian, Yan-chao 1 ; Wang, Wan-lun 1 ; Liu, Tong-Jia 1 ; Zhang, Ting 1 ; Chang, Yue 1 ; Xiao, Rui 1 ; Zhang, Chuan-ling 2 

 Inner Mongolia Medical University, Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Molecular Pathology, Huhhot, China (GRID:grid.410612.0) (ISNI:0000 0004 0604 6392) 
 Inner Mongolia Medical University, Department of Pharmacy, Huhhot, China (GRID:grid.410612.0) (ISNI:0000 0004 0604 6392) 
Pages
18435
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2882805269
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.