Comparative proteomics analysis of FFPE testicular tissue from men with obstructive and non-obstructive azoospermia

The project aimed to compare testicular proteomes from patients with obstructive and non-obstructive azoospermia in order to identify molecular signatures involved in spermatogenesis as well to identify candidate biomarkers for discriminating between different types of azoospermia. The samples used in this study were formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) testicular tissues obtained by biopsy from men with clinical diagnosis of azoospermia. Samples were grouped according to the histopathological report in 3 groups: 1) Spermatogenesis (obstructive azoospermia), 2) Hypospermatogenesis and 3) Sertoli cell only syndrome (SCO). Patients were aged 31–46 years with no differences among groups regarding age (Median age (Hypospermatogenesis) =35; Median age (SCO) =34 and Median age (Spermatogenesis) =39). Each group had 9 samples or 27 samples in total were used for the comparative proteomics analysis by label-free data-independent LC-MS/MS.