2014年8月13日 讯 /生物谷BIOON/ --近日，皇后大学的研究人员Richard Oko 和他的同事们想出了一个治疗男性不育症有前景的方法，就是使用合成的精子起源蛋白质（PAWP）治疗该病。他们发现人体的这种蛋白是非常充足的，只是需要启动受精的过程就可以。Oko博士的研究有关诊断和治疗男性不育病例的因素，如病人的精子无法启动或诱导激活卵子形成早期胚胎。
“PAWP能够在人类卵子中诱导胚胎发育，这与人类自然受精而形成的胚胎发育过程比较相似。”Oko博士解释道，“根据我们的研究，我们设想医生将会提高不育症的诊断和治疗技术，这个问题的解决会影响到全世界10%到15%的夫妻。”
这项研究的结果强调含PAWP蛋白质的精子作为不育症治疗具有潜在临床应用价值，因为大多数人现在治疗不孕症的方法是直接注射单个精子到卵子中，而补充含有PAWP蛋白质的精子可能被用来提高未来治疗不孕症的成功率。
根据疾病预防控制中心对辅助生殖技术的2013年度报告指出，只有37%的治疗周期会致使成功怀孕。成功怀孕几率如此低可能是由于男性和女性双方的各种因素，包括精子无能致使卵子无法受精以及不能引发胚胎发育等因素。
“我们研究的结果为进一步研究PAWP蛋白做好准备，这种蛋白能够作为用来诊断的分子标记和提高不孕症治疗效果的一个因素。”Oko博士说。（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1096/fj.14-256495
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Sperm-derived WW domain-binding protein, PAWP, elicits calcium oscillations and oocyte activation in humans and mice
Mahmoud Aarabi*,†, Hanna Balakier‡, Siamak Bashar‡, Sergey I. Moskovtsev‡§, Peter Sutovsky∥¶, Clifford L. Librach‡§ and Richard Oko*,1
Mammalian zygotic development is initiated by sperm-mediated intracellular calcium oscillations, followed by activation of metaphase II-arrested oocytes. Sperm postacrosomal WW binding protein (PAWP) fulfils the criteria set for an oocyte-activating factor by inducing oocyte activation and being stored in the perinuclear theca, the sperm compartment whose content is first released into oocyte cytoplasm during fertilization. However, proof that PAWP initiates mammalian zygotic development relies on demonstration that it acts upstream of oocyte calcium oscillations. Here, we show that PAWP triggers calcium oscillations and pronuclear formation in human and mouse oocytes similar to what is observed during intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Most important, sperm-induced calcium oscillations are blocked by coinjection of a competitive inhibitor, derived from the WWI domain-binding motif of PAWP, implying the requirement of sperm PAWP and an oocyte-derived WWI domain protein substrate of PAWP for successful fertilization. Sperm-delivered PAWP is, therefore, a unique protein with a nonredundant role during human and mouse fertilization, required to trigger zygotic development. Presented data confirm our previous findings in nonmammalian models and suggest potential applications of PAWP in the diagnosis and treatment of infertility.—Aarabi, M., Balakier, H., Bashar, S., Moskovtsev, S. I., Sutovsky, P., Librach, C. L., and Oko, R. Sperm-derived WW domain-binding protein, PAWP, elicits calcium oscillations and oocyte activation in humans and mice.
