Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) capable of self-renewal and differentiation are the foundation for spermatogenesis. Although several factors important for these processes have been identified, the fundamental mechanisms regulating SSC self-renewal and differentiation remain unknown. Here, we investigated a role for the Foxo transcription factors in mouse spermatogenesis and found that Foxo1 sp...

Abnormal human spermatogenesis is caused by a variety of genetic and acquired conditions. Because spermatogenesis is dependent on androgens, some males may have a minimal form of androgen insensitivity that does not inhibit virilization but impairs fertility. This has lead us to investigate the possibility of abnormalities in the androgen receptor (AR) gene in a large cohort of males suffering ...

BACKGROUND Partial deletions of the AZFc region of the Y chromosome were reported to be a significant risk factor for oligo-/azoospermia. In this study, we assessed the occurrence and frequency of partial AZFc microdeletions in patients with spermatogenic failure and in controls with normal spermatogenesis. METHODS In a retrospective study design, gr/gr, b1/b3 and b2/b3 deletions were analyse...

Spermiation and BTB restructuring, two critical cellular events that occur across seminiferous epithelium in mammalian testis during spermatogenesis, are tightly coordinated by biologically active peptides released from laminin chains. Our earlier study reported that F5-peptide, synthesized based on a stretch of 50 amino acids within laminin-γ3 domain IV, could reversibly induce the impairment ...

Background: Infertility is a complex medical problem. About 15% of couples are infertile, and male infertility being involved in roughly 50% of the cases. Among these, many cases are associated with a severe impairment of spermatogenesis. During the last stage of spermatogenesis (spermiogenesis), sperm chromatin endures complex modifications in which histones are lost and depositioned with tran...

Microdeletion of the Azoospermia Factor (AZF) regions in Y chromosome is a well-known genetic cause of male infertility resulting from spermatogenetic impairment. However, the partial deletions of AZFc region related to spermatogenetic impairment are controversial. In this study, we characterized partial deletion of AZFc region in Korean patients with spermatogenetic impairment and assessed whe...

background: during spermatogenesis, the h2b family, member w (h2b.w) gene, encodes a testis specific histone that is co-localized with telomeric sequences and has the potential role to mediate the sperm-specific chromatin remodeling. previously h2b.w genetic variants were reported to be involved in susceptibility to spermatogenesis impairment. in the present study, two single nucleotide polymor...

background: male infertility is a multifactorial disorder, which affects approximately 10% of couples at childbearing age with substantial clinical and social impact. genetic factors are associated with the susceptibility to spermatogenic impairment in humans. recently, sept12 is reported as a critical gene for spermatogenesis. this gene encodes a testis specific member of septin proteins, a fa...