This study investigated whether specific proteins from distinct seminal plasma fractions of boars could be related to in vivo fertility. Nine boars with acceptable sperm motility and morphology for use in artificial insemination demonstrated major differences in total number born and pregnancy rate when low sperm doses (1.5 billion sperm) were used to breed a minimum of 50 gilts per boar. The 2...

The epigenome consists of chemical changes in DNA and chromatin that without modifying the DNA sequence modulate gene expression and cellular phenotype. The epigenome is highly plastic and reacts to changing external conditions with modifications that can be inherited to daughter cells and across generations. Whereas this innate plasticity allows for adaptation to a changing environment, it als...

Background: The negative impact of age on reproductive success has been well demonstrated for women, but age-related changes in the male reproductive system appear to be more subtle. Diminishing testicular function is indicated by a decline in testosterone levels, accompanied by an increase in gonadotropins. Some studies have shown increased age-related numerical and structural sperm chromosoma...

The relevance of the clinicopathological and molecular features of early gastric cancers (EGCs) having the microsatellite instability (MSI)-high phenotype has not been clearly defined in sporadic gastric carcinogenesis. Here, we examined the clinicopathological and molecular characteristics of EGC according to MSI status in 330 patients with EGC (intestinal-type adenocarcinoma). Tumors were cla...

Sperm cryopreservation is a method to preserve sperm samples for a long period. However, the fertility of sperm decreases markedly after freezing and thawing in a certain amount of samples. The aim of the present study was to find useful and reliable predictive biomarkers of the capacity to withstand the freeze-thawing process in human ejaculates. Previous researches have shown that enolase1 (E...

As the second dimension to the genome, the epigenome contains key information specific to every type of cells. Thousands of human epigenome maps have been produced in recent years thanks to rapid development of high throughput epigenome mapping technologies. In this review, we discuss the current epigenome mapping toolkit and utilities of epigenome maps. We focus particularly on mapping of DNA ...