Skip Navigation



Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on February 25, 2009
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/dep021
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF )
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
24/6/1313    most recent
dep021v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ferguson, K. A.
Right arrow Articles by Ma, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ferguson, K. A.
Right arrow Articles by Ma, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. 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

Distribution of MLH1 foci and inter-focal distances in spermatocytes of infertile men

Kyle A. Ferguson, Stefanie Leung, Dennis Jiang and Sai Ma1

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

1 Correspondence address. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Room D414B, BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre, D6-4500 Oak Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6H 3N1. Tel: +1 604-875-2345 ext: 5686; Fax: +1 604-875-2722; Email: sai{at}interchange.ubc.ca

BACKGROUND: In a previous study on severely infertile men, we observed alterations in the number of meiotic crossovers; however, it is unknown if these men also show alterations in the position of crossovers.

METHODS: Spermatocytes from 15 men (5 control men and 10 infertile men) were immunostained to observe the synaptonemal complex and MLH1 foci, which localize to sites of crossovers. Fluorescent in situ hybridization was performed to identify chromosomes 13, 18 and 21. Chromosome bivalents were separated into those with single and double crossover configurations, and the distribution of MLH1 foci along each chromosome arm was calculated. The inter-focal distances on chromosome 13 and 18 bivalents with double crossovers were also calculated.

RESULTS: Four of the infertile men displayed an altered MLH1 distribution on at least one of the chromosome arms studied. Of these four men, two displayed reduced rates of meiotic recombination. Only one man displayed an abnormality in crossover interference, with inter-focal distances reduced on chromosome 13 bivalents.

CONCLUSIONS: Recombination defects in infertile men may include alterations in the number of crossovers, the position of crossovers or both. Alterations in both the number and position of crossovers may increase the risk of aneuploid sperm in infertile men.

Key words: male infertility/meiosis/meiotic recombination/synaptonemal complex/aneuploidy

Submitted on May 1, 2008; resubmitted on January 10, 2009; accepted on January 15, 2009.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.