P-098 Cryopreservation process deregulates the expression of pathways important for fertility in human spermatozoa
Authors: Stigliani S , Amaro A , Reggiani F , Maccarini E , Massarotti C , Lambertini M , Anserini P , Scaruffi P 
Published: June 2023

Study question

Does cryopreservation impact on transcriptome of conventional frozen human spermatozoa?

Summary answer

The cryopreservation of human sperm alters pathways important for fertility, although the upregulation of some genes can compensate for the harmful effects of freezing.

What is known already

Sperm cryopreservation is a widely used procedure for storing gametes for later use, for preserving fertility in patients before gonadotoxic treatments or surgery, and for sperm donation programs. The cryopreservation technique can cause damage to sperm through induction of DNA alterations, fragmentation and oxidation, and altered motility, mitochondrial activity and morphology. Transcriptomic alterations have been reported in cryopreserved sperm from various animal species, but no experimental data are available on the effect of cryopreservation on the transcriptome-wide profile of human sperm.

Study design, size, duration

Semen samples were obtained from 20 normospermic men from April to May 2022. Each sample was divided in two aliquots. From one aliquot total RNA was immediately extracted. The second aliquot was slowly cryopreserved and after a week of storage in liquid nitrogen total RNA was extracted. A total of 13 paired RNA samples passed quality control and were analyzed after randomization into 4 pools, each of 6 patients.

Participants/materials, setting, methods

The men who participated in this study had a median age of 35.0 years (range: 29.0-46.0). RNA was extracted by miRNeasy Micro Kit (Qiagen), analyzed by High Sensitivity RNA on 2200 Tape Station system (Agilent), amplified by Ovation Pico WTA SystemV2 (Nugen), labeled and hybridized on GE 4x44K v2 microarrays (Agilent). The paired Significance Analysis of Microarray (SAM) was performed using the limma hgug4112a.db and samr packages in R/BioConductor.

Main results and the role of chance

The expression profiles of cryopreserved sperm significantly differed from those of fresh sperm in 219 down-regulated and 28 up-regulated unique transcripts. The gene ontology analysis disclosed that cryopreservation downregulates genes involved in sperm motility by the mitochondria function (CABS1, SPATA19) and the correct organization of the sperm midpiece and flagellum cytoskeleton (ACTL7A, AKAP4, C9ORF24, CAPZB, CCIN, IQCG, ODF2, SPATA6, SPATA6L, TBC1D21), in fertilization (ACTL7A, AKAP4, PLCZ1, PRSS37, TUBGCP3), early embryo development (AGT, CLMN, DCC, DHRS3, EGFLAM, FAM20A, FREM1, GPI, HEMGN, KRTDAP, IFT172, MICAL2, MLF1, NF2, PGRMC2, PHACTR1, POPDC3, RO60, ROBO1, RORA, SGCA, SPRR2D, TCF4, TNC, TNNI3), oxidant detoxification (TXNDC29) and DNA repair (BRIP1, ERCC6, TRIP12), calcium ion binding and homeostasis (AMY1C, ANO1, ANO2, ASGR1, CABS1, CPNE9, FREM1, KCNIP2, ITPR3, PKD2L1, PLCZ1, SELENOK, SYN3, TNNI3). Upregulated genes were enriched in pathways related to the negative regulation of DNA damage response (ALOX15B, CD74, RPL10, SNAI1, THBS1), cellular response to calcium ion (ALOX15B, FOSB, HLA-DQB1, S100A4, THBS1), regulation of transcription (CD74, FOSB, HLA-DRB1, MAMLD1, RASD1, RPL10, SNAI1, TCF15, TLE1), protein stabilization (CD74), protein ubiquitination (BAG1, DCAF6, ERCC6, HERPUD2, KLHL7, MARCHF8, NF2, PSMA6, RNF133, SERGEF, TRIP12, UBE2DNL, UBL3, UBQLN3, ZNRF3) and ubiquitin protein ligase binding (GPI, HSPA1L, PRKAR2A, STX8).

Limitations, reasons for caution

Data validation in a larger sample cohort and by quantitative PCR would be useful, although we have applied stringent criteria for gene selection (FDR  =  0). Further research should be undertaken to experimentally test whether the length of cryostorage can have any effect on the gene expression profile of sperm.

Wider implications of the findings

Specific pathways are deregulated by cryopreservation, in accordance with altered sperm morphology, motility and molecular integrity reported in literature. Functional enrichment analyses also revealed gene expression changes to compensate for the sperm cryoinjury. This finding is noteworthy for safety issue of sperm banking i.e., fertility preservation, gamete donation.

Trial registration number

not applicable