26 research outputs found

    Missense mutations in SLC26A8, encoding a sperm-specific activator of CFTR, are associated with human asthenozoospermia.

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    International audienceThe cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is present in mature sperm and is required for sperm motility and capacitation. Both these processes are controlled by ions fluxes and are essential for fertilization. We have shown that SLC26A8, a sperm-specific member of the SLC26 family of anion exchangers, associates with the CFTR channel and strongly stimulates its activity. This suggests that the two proteins cooperate to regulate the anion fluxes required for correct sperm motility and capacitation. Here, we report on three heterozygous SLC26A8 missense mutations identified in a cohort of 146 men presenting with asthenozoospermia: c.260G>A (p.Arg87Gln), c.2434G>A (p.Glu812Lys), and c.2860C>T (p.Arg954Cys). These mutations were not present in 121 controls matched for ethnicity, and statistical analysis on a control population of 8,600 individuals (from dbSNP and 1000 Genomes) showed them to be associated with asthenozoospermia with a power > 95%. By cotransfecting Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-K1 cells with SLC26A8 variants and CFTR, we showed that the physical interaction between the two proteins was partly conserved but that the capacity to activate CFTR-dependent anion transport was completely abolished for all mutants. Biochemical studies revealed the presence of much smaller amounts of protein for all variants, but these amounts were restored to wild-type levels upon treatment with the proteasome inhibitor MG132. Immunocytochemistry also showed the amounts of SLC26A8 in sperm to be abnormally small in individuals carrying the mutations. These mutations might therefore impair formation of the SLC26A8-CFTR complex, principally by affecting SLC26A8 stability, consistent with an impairment of CFTR-dependent sperm-activation events in affected individuals

    Mutations in DNAJB13, Encoding an HSP40 Family Member, Cause Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia and Male Infertility.

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    Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is an autosomal-recessive disease due to functional or ultra-structural defects of motile cilia. Affected individuals display recurrent respiratory-tract infections; most males are infertile as a result of sperm flagellar dysfunction. The great majority of the PCD-associated genes identified so far encode either components of dynein arms (DAs), which are multiprotein-ATPase complexes essential for ciliary motility, or proteins involved in DA assembly. To identify the molecular basis of a PCD phenotype characterized by central complex (CC) defects but normal DA structure, a phenotype found in ∼15% of cases, we performed whole-exome sequencing in a male individual with PCD and unexplained CC defects. This analysis, combined with whole-genome SNP genotyping, identified a homozygous mutation in DNAJB13 (c.833T>G), a gene encoding a HSP40 co-chaperone whose ortholog in the flagellated alga Chlamydomonas localizes to the radial spokes. In vitro studies showed that this missense substitution (p.Met278Arg), which involves a highly conserved residue of several HSP40 family members, leads to protein instability and triggers proteasomal degradation, a result confirmed by the absence of endogenous DNAJB13 in cilia and sperm from this individual. Subsequent DNAJB13 analyses identified another homozygous mutation in a second family; the study of DNAJB13 transcripts obtained from airway cells showed that this mutation (c.68+1G>C) results in a splicing defect consistent with a loss-of-function mutation. Overall, this study, which establishes mutations in DNAJB13 as a cause of PCD, unveils the key role played by DNAJB13 in the proper formation and function of ciliary and flagellar axonemes in humans

    Long-term results of the Wagner cone prosthesis

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    The Wagner cone prosthesis is indicated in uncemented total hip replacement of cases with cylinder-shaped femurs, deformed femurs, femurs with increased antetorsion, and in conditions of intramedullary bony scar tissue after previous osteotomies. The objective of this study is to present long-term results. From January 1, 1993 to December 31, 1995, 132 implantations were made with the Wagner cone prosthesis. We report the clinical and radiographic results of 94 cone prostheses with a mean observation period of 11.5 years. The Merle d’Aubigné score improved from a preoperative mean value of 8.8 to a postoperative mean of 16.3. The radiographic evaluation revealed 32 cases with cortical hypertrophy, 73 cases with atrophy of the proximal femur, and 18 cases with complete pedestal formation. Radiolucencies over Gruen zones 1 and 7 occurred in 42 cases; only zone 1 was affected in 24 cases. Complications included three deep infections, three acetabular revisions, five total joint revisions, one recurrent luxation, and three heterotopic ossifications. In spite of the fact that the examined cohort often included patients who had undergone multiple previous operations (a maximum of six) of the proximal femur or the acetabulum, the long-term results of the Wagner cone prostheses were very promising
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