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Signaling Molecules Involved in Gametes Development, Differentiation and Fertilization, 2nd Edition

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2025 | Viewed by 5794

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Sergio Minucci

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Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Sez. Fisiologia Umana e Funzioni Biologiche Integrate, Università degli Studi della Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’, Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, 16-80138 Napoli, Italy
Interests: reproduction; spermatogenesis; reproductive toxicology; apoptosis; testicular cytoskeleton; gene expression; fertility
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Massimo Venditti

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Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Sez. Fisiologia Umana e Funzioni Biologiche Integrate, Università degli Studi della Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’, Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, 16-80138 Napoli, Italy
Interests: reproduction; spermatogenesis; reproductive toxicology; apoptosis; testicular cytoskeleton; blood-testis barrier; fertility
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The reproductive activity of a species is crucial to ensure its survival and genetic variability. Therefore, the production and differentiation of good-quality gametes, which are capable of fertilizing or being fertilized, are of primary importance. In contrast, there is a worrying decline in fertility worldwide, directly proportional to the increasing worsening of the quality of gametes. Thus, studies on the molecular mechanisms that regulate male and female gametogenesis are encouraged, not only to add new knowledge on the biological aspects of these differentiative processes but also to identify new potential markers of proper fertility and/or therapeutic targets on which to act to improve it.

This Special Issue aims to cover the physiological and pathological aspects of gamete production and differentiation at histological, cellular, and biomolecular levels. These include, but are not limited to, all aspects related to gamete function, including sperm and oocyte maturation, epididymal transit, fertilization, sperm motility, capacitation, and acrosome reaction. Papers focusing on the influence of environmental pollutants (endocrine-disrupting chemicals, microplastics, etc.), as well as metabolic disorders (overweight/obesity, diabetes), on gametes are also welcome to be submitted. Papers focusing on any vertebrate (including human) and non-vertebrate species will be accepted, as well as in vitro and ex vivo studies. This Special Issue welcomes research articles, case reports, short communications, letters, and review articles.

Prof. Dr. Sergio Minucci
Dr. Massimo Venditti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • spermatogenesis
  • oogenesis
  • spermatozoa
  • oocyte
  • fertilization
  • acrosome reaction
  • fertility
  • epidydimal transit
  • endocrine disrupting chemicals
  • testicular and ovarian cancer

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 17337 KiB  
Article
The Protective Effect of Quercetin against the Cytotoxicity Induced by Fumonisin B1 in Sertoli Cells
by Jun Ma, Ruixue Huang, Huai Zhang, Dongju Liu, Xiaodong Dong, Yan Xiong, Xianrong Xiong, Daoliang Lan, Wei Fu, Honghong He, Jian Li and Shi Yin
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(16), 8764; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25168764 - 12 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1763
Abstract
Fumonisin B1 (FB1), a mycotoxin produced by Fusarium species, is prevalent in crops and animal feed, posing significant health risks to livestock and humans. FB1 induces oxidative stress in Sertoli cells, destroys testicular structure, and affects spermatogenesis. However, methods to mitigate the reproductive [...] Read more.
Fumonisin B1 (FB1), a mycotoxin produced by Fusarium species, is prevalent in crops and animal feed, posing significant health risks to livestock and humans. FB1 induces oxidative stress in Sertoli cells, destroys testicular structure, and affects spermatogenesis. However, methods to mitigate the reproductive toxicity of FB1 in testes remain unknown. Quercetin, a natural flavonoid antioxidant, may offer protective benefits. This study investigated the protective effects and mechanisms of quercetin against FB1-induced reproductive toxicity in TM4 cells (a Sertoli cell line). The results indicated that 40 μM quercetin improved cell viability, reduced apoptosis, and preserved cell functions. Quercetin also decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in TM4 cells exposed to FB1, enhanced the expression of antioxidant genes, and improved mitochondrial membrane potential. Compared with FB1 alone, the combination of quercetin and FB1 increased ATP levels, as well as pyruvate and lactic acid, the key glycolysis products. Furthermore, this combination elevated the mRNA and protein expression of glycolysis-related genes, including glucose-6-phosphate isomerase 1 (Gpi1), hexokinase 2 (Hk2), aldolase (Aldoa), pyruvate kinase, muscle (Pkm), lactate dehydrogenase A (Ldha) and phosphofructokinase, liver, B-type (Pfkl). Quercetin also boosted the activity of PKM and LDHA, two crucial glycolytic enzymes. In summary, quercetin mitigates FB1-induced toxicity in TM4 cells by reducing ROS levels and enhancing glycolysis. This study offers new insights into preventing and treating FB1-induced toxic damage to the male reproductive system and highlights the potential application of quercetin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Signaling Molecules Involved in Gametes Development, Differentiation and Fertilization, 2nd Edition)
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18 pages, 4866 KiB  
Article
Deficiency of ValRS-m Causes Male Infertility in Drosophila melanogaster
by Xin Duan, Haolin Wang, Zhixian Cao, Na Su, Yufeng Wang and Ya Zheng
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(13), 7489; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25137489 - 8 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1606
Abstract
Drosophila spermatogenesis involves the renewal of germline stem cells, meiosis of spermatocytes, and morphological transformation of spermatids into mature sperm. We previously demonstrated that Ocnus (ocn) plays an essential role in spermatogenesis. The ValRS-m (Valyl-tRNA synthetase, mitochondrial) gene [...] Read more.
Drosophila spermatogenesis involves the renewal of germline stem cells, meiosis of spermatocytes, and morphological transformation of spermatids into mature sperm. We previously demonstrated that Ocnus (ocn) plays an essential role in spermatogenesis. The ValRS-m (Valyl-tRNA synthetase, mitochondrial) gene was down-regulated in ocn RNAi testes. Here, we found that ValRS-m-knockdown induced complete sterility in male flies. The depletion of ValRS-m blocked mitochondrial behavior and ATP synthesis, thus inhibiting the transition from spermatogonia to spermatocytes, and eventually, inducing the accumulation of spermatogonia during spermatogenesis. To understand the intrinsic reason for this, we further conducted transcriptome-sequencing analysis for control and ValRS-m-knockdown testes. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between these two groups were selected with a fold change of ≥2 or ≤1/2. Compared with the control group, 4725 genes were down-regulated (dDEGs) and 2985 genes were up-regulated (uDEGs) in the ValRS-m RNAi group. The dDEGs were mainly concentrated in the glycolytic pathway and pyruvate metabolic pathway, and the uDEGs were primarily related to ribosomal biogenesis. A total of 28 DEGs associated with mitochondria and 6 meiosis-related genes were verified to be suppressed when ValRS-m was deficient. Overall, these results suggest that ValRS-m plays a wide and vital role in mitochondrial behavior and spermatogonia differentiation in Drosophila. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Signaling Molecules Involved in Gametes Development, Differentiation and Fertilization, 2nd Edition)
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10 pages, 2096 KiB  
Article
Expression of Insl3 Protein in Adult Danio rerio
by Aldo Donizetti, Mauro Calicchio, Maria Zelinda Romano, Luigi Rosati, Manuela Turco, Anna Maria Carrese, Rosanna del Gaudio, Ida Ferrandino and Francesco Aniello
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(10), 5419; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25105419 - 16 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1607
Abstract
Insulin-like peptide 3 (INSL3) is a biomarker for Leydig cells in the testes of vertebrates, and it is principally involved in spermatogenesis through specific binding with the RXFP2 receptor. This study reports the insl3 gene transcript and the Insl3 prepropeptide expression in both [...] Read more.
Insulin-like peptide 3 (INSL3) is a biomarker for Leydig cells in the testes of vertebrates, and it is principally involved in spermatogenesis through specific binding with the RXFP2 receptor. This study reports the insl3 gene transcript and the Insl3 prepropeptide expression in both non-reproductive and reproductive tissues of Danio rerio. An immunohistochemistry analysis shows that the hormone is present at a low level in the Leydig cells and germ cells at all stages of Danio rerio testis differentiation. Considering that the insl3 gene is transcribed in Leydig cells, our results highlight an autocrine and paracrine function of this hormone in the Danio rerio testis, adding new information on the Insl3 mode of action in reproduction. We also show that Insl3 and Rxfp2 belonging to Danio rerio and other vertebrate species share most of the amino acid residues involved in the ligand–receptor interaction and activation, suggesting a conserved mechanism of action during vertebrate evolution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Signaling Molecules Involved in Gametes Development, Differentiation and Fertilization, 2nd Edition)
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