Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34062096›Full record

ReviewOpen biology2021

Brain and testis: more alike than previously thought?

Bárbara Matos, Stephen J Publicover, Luis Filipe C Castro, Pedro J Esteves, Margarida Fardilha

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Open biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
44citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

44 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Sexual Selection as a Driver of Shared Neural and Reproductive Mechanisms.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Transposon Ecology and the Octopus Genome.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2026
    Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
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  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Why did the human brain size evolve? A way forward.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025
    Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Bárbara MatosLaboratory of Signal Transduction, Department of Medical Sciences, Institute of Biomedicine-iBiMED, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Stephen J PublicoverSchool of Biosciences, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
Luis Filipe C CastroCIIMAR/CIMAR-Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Pedro J EstevesDepartment of Biology, FCUP-Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Margarida FardilhaLaboratory of Signal Transduction, Department of Medical Sciences, Institute of Biomedicine-iBiMED, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Several strands of evidence indicate the presence of marked similarities between human brain and testis. Understanding these similarities and their implications has become a topic of interest among the scientific community. Indeed, an association of intelligence with some semen quality parameters has been reported and a relation between dysfunctions of the human brain and testis has also been evident. Numerous common molecular features are evident when these tissues are compared, which is reflected in the huge number of common proteins. At the functional level, human neurons and sperm share a number of characteristics, including the importance of the exocytotic process and the presence of similar receptors and signalling pathways. The common proteins are mainly involved in exocytosis, tissue development and neuron/brain-associated biological processes. With this analysis, we conclude that human brain and testis share several biochemical characteristics which, in addition to their involvement in the speciation process, could, at least in part, be responsible for the expression of a huge number of common proteins. Nonetheless, this is an underexplored topic, and the connection between these tissues needs to be clarified, which could help to understand the dysfunctions affecting brain and testis, as well as to develop improved therapeutic strategies.

Indexed as

AnimalsBiomarkersBrainCellular MicroenvironmentGene Expression RegulationHumansMaleNeuronsProteomeSignal TransductionSpermatozoaTestisTranscriptomeBiomarkersProteomebrainmolecularneuronspermtestis

Identifiers

PMID34062096
PMCPMC8169208

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.