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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on January 27, 2008
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/dem400
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© The Author 2007. 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

A possible association of a human tektin-t gene mutation (A229V) with isolated non-syndromic asthenozoospermia: Case Report

Daniela Zuccarello1, Alberto Ferlin1, Andrea Garolla1, Mauro A. Pati1, Afra Moretti1, Carla Cazzadore1, Sandro Francavilla2 and Carlo Foresta1,3

1 Department of Histology, Microbiology and Medical Biotechnologies, Centre for Male Gamete Cryopreservation, University of Padova, Via Gabelli 63, 35121 Padova, Italy 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Andrology, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy

3 Correspondence address. Tel: +39-049-8218517; Fax: +39-049-8218520; E-mail: carlo.foresta{at}unipd.it

Asthenozoospermia (AZS), characterized by grade A + B sperm motility (as in World Health Organization Guidelines) ≤50% or A <25% in fresh ejaculate, may exist as an isolated disorder, in combination with other sperm anomalies or as part of syndromic association. The majority of syndromic patients can be ascribed to mutations in dynein genes, while, to date, no genes have been described to be associated in humans with non-syndromic, isolated AZS. An interesting family of axonemal proteins, the tektins, has been recently identified in various mammals and they are thought to play a fundamental role in ciliary movement. Recently, the human tektin-t (or h-tekB1 or Tektin-2) gene has been cloned, showing specific expression in flagella of mature sperm. We report the screening of tektin-t gene in 90 isolated non-syndromic AZS patients. We found a heterozygous mutation (A229V) in one patient. Ultrastructural analysis showed anomalies in ≥80% of examined spermatozoa involving axoneme microtubules and mitochondria. Moreover, the viability and mitochondrial function of sperm were altered in the patient with the A229V mutation. This is the first description of human pathology linked to a tektin-family gene, since only murine models are available for these genes.

Key words: asthenozoospermia/tektin-t/primary ciliary dyskinesia/sperm motility/axoneme

Submitted on September 6, 2007; resubmitted on November 13, 2007; accepted on November 20, 2007.


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D. Zuccarello, A. Ferlin, C. Cazzadore, A. Pepe, A. Garolla, A. Moretti, G. Cordeschi, S. Francavilla, and C. Foresta
Mutations in dynein genes in patients affected by isolated non-syndromic asthenozoospermia
Hum. Reprod., August 1, 2008; 23(8): 1957 - 1962.
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