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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on May 14, 2008
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/den181
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Protein composition of human epididymosomes collected during surgical vasectomy reversal: aproteomic and genomic approach

Véronique Thimon1,{dagger}, Gilles Frenette1,{dagger}, Fabrice Saez2, Michel Thabet3 and Robert Sullivan1,4

1 Centre de Recherche en Biologie de la Reproduction and Département d'Obstétrique-Gynécologie, Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada 2 Laboratoire épididyme et maturation des gamètes. CNRS UMR 6547, Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand Cedex 1, France 3 Urologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

4 Correspondence address. Unité d'Ontogénie-Reproduction, Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université Laval, 2705 boulevard Laurier, T1-49, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada G1V 4G2. Tel: +1-418-656-4141; Fax: +1-418-654-2765; E-mail: robert.sullivan{at}crchul.ulaval.ca

BACKGROUND: The epididymal epithelium secretes membranous vesicles, called epididymosomes, with which a complex mixture of proteins is associated. These vesicles transfer to spermatozoa selected proteins involved in sperm maturation. Epididymosomes in the human excurrent duct have been described, but their protein composition and possible functions are unknown.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Epididymosomes were collected during vasovasostomy procedures, purified and submitted to liquid chromatography with hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. From all the mass spectra generated, 1022 peptides allowed the identification of 146 different proteins. Identification of some of these proteins was confirmed by western blots. Furthermore, western blot showed that the protein composition of epididymosomes differed from that characterizing prostasomes; membranous vesicles secreted by the prostate. Organization of the epididymosomes proteome according to common functional features suggests that epididymosomes have multiple functions. In order to understand the origin of epididymosomes collected distally, microarray databases of caput, corpus and cauda epididymidis were analysed to determine where along the excurrent duct the encoded proteins associated to epididymosomes are synthesised. Results suggest that some proteins synthesized in the caput and corpus epididymidis are associated with epididymosomes collected distally.

CONCLUSIONS: Epididymosomes thus transit along the excurrent duct, and vesicles collected distally represent a mixed population.

Key words: epididymosome/protein/vasectomy/sperm/epididymus

{dagger} These two authors contributed equally to this work.

Submitted on November 26, 2007; resubmitted on March 26, 2008; accepted on April 12, 2008.


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