{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,11]],"date-time":"2026-01-11T01:11:28Z","timestamp":1768093888499,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,17]],"date-time":"2021-12-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1639699200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Medical University Plovdiv","award":["\u041d\u041e-08\/2015"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["\u041d\u041e-08\/2015"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cells"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Testicular angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is known to play an essential role in the male reproduction and fertility. Data about tACE in cases of male infertility are quite scarce, and in this respect we aimed to study localization and distribution of tACE protein in the neck and mid-piece of spermatozoa from pathological samples in relation to sperm motility. The enzyme expression during capacitation and acrosome reaction was quantitatively assessed. In human ejaculated spermatozoa tACE is localized on sperm plasma membrane of the head, the neck and mid-piece of the tail. The immunoreactivity becomes stronger in capacitated spermatozoa followed by a decrease in acrosome reacted sperm. In different cases of semen pathology (oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia and teratozoospermia) fluorescent signals in the neck and mid-piece are in punctate manner whereas in normozoospermia they were uniformly distributed. The expression area of tACE the neck and mid-piece was decreased in ejaculated and capacitated sperm from pathological semen samples compared to normospermia. Significant positive correlation was established between tACE area and progressive sperm motility, whereas with immotile sperm the correlation was negative. Our data suggest that proper distribution of tACE in the neck and mid-piece is required for normal sperm motility that could be used as a novel biomarker for male infertility.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cells10123572","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,19]],"date-time":"2021-12-19T20:41:55Z","timestamp":1639946515000},"page":"3572","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Localization and Distribution of Testicular Angiotensin I Converting Enzyme (ACE) in Neck and Mid-Piece of Spermatozoa from Infertile Men in Relation to Sperm Motility"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0411-2291","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mina","family":"Pencheva","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University Plovdiv, 4002 Plovdiv, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6880-6946","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Donka","family":"Keskinova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Applied and Institutional Sociology, Faculty of Philosophy and History, University of Plovdiv Paisii Hilendarski, 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pavel","family":"Rashev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biology and Immunology of Reproduction \u201cAkad. K. Bratanov\u201d, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yvetta","family":"Koeva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Medical University of Plovdiv, 4002 Plovdiv, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9032-3588","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nina","family":"Atanassova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Experimental Morphology, Pathology and Anthropology with Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"86","DOI":"10.1093\/humupd\/dmx033","article-title":"Diabetes-Induced Hyperglycemia Impairs Male Reproductive Function: A Systematic Review","volume":"24","author":"Maresch","year":"2018","journal-title":"Hum. 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