Understanding the basis of semen hyperviscosity and asthenozoospermia phenotypes - a systems biology approach

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Comparative analysis of the bronchoalveolar microbiome in Portuguese patients with different chronic lung disorders

Publication . Seixas, Susana; Kolbe, Allison R.; Gomes, Sílvia; Sucena, Maria; Sousa, Catarina; Vaz Rodrigues, Luís; Teixeira, Gilberto; Pinto, Paula; Tavares de Abreu, Tiago; Bárbara, Cristina; Semedo, Júlio; Mota, Leonor; Carvalho, Ana Sofia; Matthiesen, Rune; Marques, Patrícia Isabel; Pérez-Losada, Marcos

The lung is inhabited by a diverse microbiome that originates from the oropharynx by a mechanism of micro-aspiration. Its bacterial biomass is usually low; however, this condition shifts in lung cancer (LC), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and interstitial lung disease (ILD). These chronic lung disorders (CLD) may coexist in the same patient as comorbidities and share common risk factors, among which the microbiome is included. We characterized the microbiome of 106 bronchoalveolar lavages. Samples were initially subdivided into cancer and non-cancer and high-throughput sequenced for the 16S rRNA gene. Additionally, we used a cohort of 25 CLD patients where crossed comorbidities were excluded. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the most prevalent phyla independently of the analyzed group. Streptococcus and Prevotella were associated with LC and Haemophilus was enhanced in COPD versus ILD. Although no significant discrepancies in microbial diversity were observed between cancer and non-cancer samples, statistical tests suggested a gradient across CLD where COPD and ILD displayed the highest and lowest alpha diversities, respectively. Moreover, COPD and ILD were separated in two clusters by the unweighted UniFrac distance (P value = 0.0068). Our results support the association of Streptoccocus and Prevotella with LC and of Haemophilus with COPD, and advocate for specific CLD signatures.

2021Artigo científico

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Common genetic variation in KATNAL1 non‐coding regions is involved in the susceptibility to severe phenotypes of male infertility

Publication . Cerván‐Martín, Miriam; Bossini‐Castillo, Lara; Guzmán‐Jiménez, Andrea; Rivera‐Egea, Rocío; Garrido, Nicolás; Lujan, Saturnino; Romeu, Gema; Santos-Ribeiro, Samuel; Castilla, José Antonio; Gonzalvo, María del Carmen; Clavero, Ana; Maldonado, Vicente; Vicente, Francisco Javier; Burgos, Miguel; Jiménez, Rafael; González‐Muñoz, Sara; Sánchez‐Curbelo, Josvany; López‐Rodrigo, Olga; Pereira‐Caetano, Iris; Marques, Patricia Isabel; Carvalho, Filipa; Barros, Alberto; Bassas, Lluís; Seixas, Susana; Gonçalves, João; Larriba, Sara; Lopes, Alexandra Manuel; Palomino‐Morales, Rogelio Jesús; Carmona, Francisco David

Background: Previous studies in animal models evidenced that genetic mutations of KATNAL1, resulting in dysfunction of its encoded protein, lead to male infertility through disruption of microtubule remodelling and premature germ cell exfoliation. Subsequent studies in humans also suggested a possible role of KATNAL1 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the development of male infertility as a consequence of severe spermatogenic failure. Objectives: The main objective of the present study is to evaluate the effect of the common genetic variation of KATNAL1 in a large and phenotypically well-characterised cohort of infertile men because of severe spermatogenic failure. Materials and methods: A total of 715 infertile men because of severe spermatogenic failure, including 210 severe oligospermia and 505 non-obstructive azoospermia patients, as well as 1058 unaffected controls were genotyped for three KATNAL1 single-nucleotide polymorphism taggers (rs2077011, rs7338931 and rs2149971). Case-control association analyses by logistic regression assuming different models and in silico functional characterisation of risk variants were conducted. Results: Genetic associations were observed between the three analysed taggers and different severe spermatogenic failure groups. However, in all cases, the haplotype model (rs2077011*C | rs7338931*T | rs2149971*A) better explained the observed associations than the three risk alleles independently. This haplotype was associated with non-obstructive azoospermia (adjusted p = 4.96E-02, odds ratio = 2.97), Sertoli-cell only syndrome (adjusted p = 2.83E-02, odds ratio = 5.16) and testicular sperm extraction unsuccessful outcomes (adjusted p = 8.99E-04, odds ratio = 6.13). The in silico analyses indicated that the effect on severe spermatogenic failure predisposition could be because of an alteration of the KATNAL1 splicing pattern. Conclusions: Specific allelic combinations of KATNAL1 genetic polymorphisms may confer a risk of developing severe male infertility phenotypes by favouring the overrepresentation of a short non-functional transcript isoform in the testis.

2022Artigo científico

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Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Número da atribuição

SFRH/BPD/120777/2016