Turns out the two are easily confused after all (at least when it comes to their proteomic profile).
The human brain and testes have a huge number of common proteins – much more than any other tissue type.
And exploring this connection could help researchers understand dysfunctions affecting the both tissues and develop therapies, researchers say.
Yes, we can hear what you’re thinking and, no, we do not mean to imply that men think with their testes (although readers may draw their own conclusions based on experience).
Portuguese research published in Open Biology found that human neurons and sperm shared a number of characteristics, including having similar receptors and signalling pathways.
“Human brain and testis share several molecular characteristics, which are reflected in a very similar proteomic profile,” the researchers wrote.
“Our in-silico analysis revealed that, surprisingly, human brain and testis have the highest number of common proteins, compared to other human body tissues.”
The common proteins were mainly involved in exocytosis, tissue development and brain-associated biological processes.
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