Validation and application of a novel integrated genetic screening method to a cohort of 1,112 men with idiopathic azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia

Manon S. Oud, Liliana Ramos, Moira K. O'Bryan, Robert I. McLachlan, Ozlem Okutman, Stephane Viville, Petra F. de Vries, Dominique F. C. M. Smeets, Dorien Lugtenberg, Jayne Y. Hehir-Kwa, Christian Gilissen, Maartje van de Vorst, Lisenka E. L. M. Vissers, Alexander Hoischen, Aukje M. Meijerink, Kathrin Fleischer, Joris A. Veltman*, Michiel J. Noordam

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Microdeletions of the Y chromosome (YCMs), Klinefelter syndrome (47,XXY), and CFTR mutations are known genetic causes of severe male infertility, but the majority of cases remain idiopathic. Here, we describe a novel method using single molecule Molecular Inversion Probes (smMIPs), to screen infertile men for mutations and copy number variations affecting known disease genes. We designed a set of 4,525 smMIPs targeting the coding regions of causal (n=6) and candidate (n=101) male infertility genes. After extensive validation, we screened 1,112 idiopathic infertile men with non-obstructive azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia. In addition to five chromosome YCMs and six other sex chromosomal anomalies, we identified five patients with rare recessive mutations in CFTR as well as a patient with a rare heterozygous frameshift mutation in SYCP3 that may be of clinical relevance. This results in a genetic diagnosis in 11-17 patients (1%-1.5%), a yield that may increase significantly when more genes are confidently linked to male infertility. In conclusion, we developed a flexible and scalable method to reliably detect genetic causes of male infertility. The assay consolidates the detection of different types of genetic variation while increasing the diagnostic yield and detection precision at the same or lower price compared with currently used methods.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1592-1605
Number of pages14
JournalHuman Mutation
Volume38
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2017

Keywords

  • Azoospermia
  • CBAVD
  • CFTR
  • Diagnostics
  • Male Infertility
  • Oligozoospermia
  • Reproduction
  • smMIPs
  • Targeted Sequencing
  • MOLECULAR INVERSION PROBES
  • HUMAN Y-CHROMOSOME
  • CONGENITAL BILATERAL ABSENCE
  • MALE-INFERTILITY
  • VAS-DEFERENS
  • DPY19L2 DELETION
  • CYSTIC-FIBROSIS
  • HIGH-THROUGHPUT
  • MEIOTIC ARREST
  • MUTATIONS

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