Spermatozoal RNA Profiles (HumanRef-8 BeadChip)

Normal human spermatogenesis concludes with the formation of large numbers of morphologically well developed spermatozoa. While transcriptionally quiescent these cells carry an RNA payload that reflects the final spermiogenic phase of transcription. We report here the spermatozoal transcript profiles characteristic of normally fertile individuals and infertile males suffering from a consistent and severe teratozoospermia in which under 4% of spermatozoa are morphologically normal. RNA was extracted from the purified sperm cells of ejaculate and hybridized to Illumina WG ref8 Microarrays. Keywords: disease state analysis Spermatozoal RNAs were prepared from the semen samples of 10 individuals. An asymmetric dual block design was adopted with biological replicates in both blocks. 4 semen samples were assessed from normally fertile males. 6 semen samples were assessed from infertile individuals with a severe and consistent teratozoospermia (predominantly DFS).