In:
Nature Communications, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, Vol. 13, No. 1 ( 2022-01-10)
Abstract:
De novo mutations are known to play a prominent role in sporadic disorders with reduced fitness. We hypothesize that de novo mutations play an important role in severe male infertility and explain a portion of the genetic causes of this understudied disorder. To test this hypothesis, we utilize trio-based exome sequencing in a cohort of 185 infertile males and their unaffected parents. Following a systematic analysis, 29 of 145 rare (MAF 〈 0.1%) protein-altering de novo mutations are classified as possibly causative of the male infertility phenotype. We observed a significant enrichment of loss-of-function de novo mutations in loss-of-function-intolerant genes ( p -value = 1.00 × 10 −5 ) in infertile men compared to controls. Additionally, we detected a significant increase in predicted pathogenic de novo missense mutations affecting missense-intolerant genes ( p -value = 5.01 × 10 −4 ) in contrast to predicted benign de novo mutations. One gene we identify, RBM5 , is an essential regulator of male germ cell pre-mRNA splicing and has been previously implicated in male infertility in mice. In a follow-up study, 6 rare pathogenic missense mutations affecting this gene are observed in a cohort of 2,506 infertile patients, whilst we find no such mutations in a cohort of 5,784 fertile men ( p -value = 0.03). Our results provide evidence for the role of de novo mutations in severe male infertility and point to new candidate genes affecting fertility.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2041-1723
DOI:
10.1038/s41467-021-27132-8
Language:
English
Publisher:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication Date:
2022
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2553671-0
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