Abstract
Oligo-astheno-teratozoospermia (OAT), which is a common cause of male infertility, can be caused by genetic factors. This study reports on a case of a male patient suffering from infertility concomitant with OAT. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) confirmed the presence of a homozygous variant (NM_003462: c.464-1G > A) in the DNALI1 gene via Sanger sequencing. Immunofluorescence staining demonstrated that the DNALI1 signal was nearly undetectable in the patient’s sperm. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that this mutation could reverse the splicing of the exon 4 acceptor splice site. A minigene experiment was performed to verify the mutation and the results confirmed that the mutation disrupted the splicing. Our findings show that this rare mutation in DNALI1 contributes to male infertility and OAT in humans, thereby expanding our understanding of the causes and pathogenesis of male infertility. This knowledge facilitates genetic counseling, clinical diagnosis, and therapeutic development of male infertility.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the patient family who participated in this study. This work was supported by the Medical Scientific Research Foundation of Zhejiang Province (No. 2021KY190).
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The present study was supported by the Medical Scientific Research Foundation of Zhejiang Province (No. 2021KY190).
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Conception and design: F Zhang, J Li, and L Li; administrative support: J Wu; collection and assembly of data: Z Liang, and X Chen; data analysis and interpretation: H Zheng; manuscript writing: all authors; final approval of the manuscript: all authors.
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We reported that a homozygous variant (NM_003462: c.464-1G > A) could result in the production of a truncated DNALI1 protein and lead to male infertility with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia.
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Zhang, F., Li, J., Liang, Z. et al. Splicing Mutation in DNALI1 Causes Male Infertility with Severe Oligoasthenoteratozoospermia in Humans. Reprod. Sci. 31, 1610–1616 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-023-01451-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-023-01451-1