COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS COMPRISING BIOMARKERS OF SPERM QUALITY, SEMEN QUALITY AND FERTILITY

摘要

Provided are compositions and methods for determining or diagnosing abnormal sperm or fertility, comprising: obtaining sperm DNA from a test subject; determining the methylation status of at least one CpG dinucleotide sequence of at least one gene sequence selected from HRAS, NTF3, MT1A, PAX8, DIRAS3, PLAGL1, SFN, SAT2CHRM1, MEST, RNR1, CYP27B1 and ICAM1; and thereby determining or diagnosing abnormal sperm or fertility. Provided are compositions and methods for identifying agents that cause spermatogenic deficits or abnormal sperm fertility, comprising: obtaining human ES-cell derived primordial germ cells; contacting the germ cells or descendants thereof, with a test agent; culturing the contacted cells; determining, using a genomic DNA of the sample, the methylation status of at least one CpG dinucleotide sequence of at least one gene sequence selected from the above group; and identifying at least one test agent that causes at least one of spermatogenic deficits, abnormal sperm, and abnormal fertility.