Shared genetics in humans, roundworms shed light on infertility

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Source: Rutgers University | Summary: Humans and worms are connected by a common ancestor that lived more than 700 million years ago and shared a gene that is required for sperm to function properly at fertilization, research confirms. This discovery could lead to more effective infertility treatments and better contraceptives.

"A discovery by Rutgers scientists links a protein in human sperm to the same molecule needed for reproduction in tiny roundworms and may provide clues to human infertility.

In a study published in Current Biology, Andrew Singson, a professor in the Department of Genetics in the School of Arts and Sciences, and colleagues from the National Institutes of Health and the College of William and Mary in Virginia, identified a protein, SPE-45, on the sperm of C. elegan worms that help bind sperm to eggs during fertilization. It is the same as the Izumo protein considered essential for humans and other mammals to reproduce that was discovered a decade ago by Japanese scientists who named it after a marriage shrine in Japan.

"Humans and worms are connected by a common ancestor that lived more than 700 million years ago and this discovery will give us insight into their shared genetics and fertility pathways," said Singson, a principal investigator at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology.

The research suggests that a common ancestor to both worms and humans had a SPE-45/Izumo-like gene that was required for sperm to function properly at fertilization, said Singson, who has been researching the biological process of fertility for the past two decades..."

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