scholarly journals Sperm membrane proteins DCST1 and DCST2 are required for the sperm-egg fusion process in mice and fish

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taichi Noda ◽  
Andreas Blaha ◽  
Yoshitaka Fujihara ◽  
Krista R. Gert ◽  
Chihiro Emori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Proteins ◽  
Male Sterility ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Male Fertility ◽  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Vertebrate Species ◽  
Essential Factor ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Sperm Membrane ◽  
Single Knockout

AbstractThe process of sperm-egg fusion is critical for successful fertilization, yet the underpinning mechanisms that regulate these steps have remained unclear in vertebrates. Here, we show that both mouse and zebrafish DCST1 and DCST2 are necessary in sperm to fertilize the egg, similar to their orthologs SPE-42 and SPE-49 in C. elegans and Sneaky in D. melanogaster. Mouse Dcst1 and Dcst2 single knockout (KO) spermatozoa are able to undergo the acrosome reaction and show normal relocalization of IZUMO1, an essential factor for sperm-egg fusion, to the equatorial segment. While both single KO spermatozoa can bind to the oolemma, they rarely fuse with oocytes, resulting in male sterility. Similar to mice, zebrafish dcst1 KO males are subfertile and dcst2 and dcst1/2 double KO males are sterile. Zebrafish dcst1/2 KO spermatozoa are motile and can approach the egg, but rarely bind to the oolemma. These data demonstrate that DCST1/2 are essential for male fertility in two vertebrate species highlighting their crucial role as conserved factors in fertilization.

scholarly journals Prss55 but not Prss51 is required for male fertility in mice†

2020 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiyonori Kobayashi ◽  
Tsutomu Endo ◽  
Takafumi Matsumura ◽  
Yonggang Lu ◽  
Zhifeng Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Serine Protease ◽  
Male Fertility ◽  
Double Knockout ◽  
Idiopathic Male Infertility ◽  
Impaired Ability ◽  
Fertilizing Ability ◽  
Sperm Migration ◽  
Sperm Membrane ◽  
Single Knockout ◽  
Mammalian Spermatozoa

Abstract Mammalian spermatozoa are produced in the testis through spermatogenesis and matured in the epididymis to acquire fertilizing ability. Spermatozoa are ejaculated and migrate from the uterus to the oviducts to fuse with oocytes. Although over 2000 genes are expressed abundantly in mouse testes, the genes responsible for male fertility are not yet fully clarified. Here, we focused on two testis-enriched serine protease genes, Serine protease (Prss) 51 and Prss55, which overlap their gene loci partially in both mice and humans. To characterize their functions in male fertility, we first generated Prss51 and Prss55 double knockout (DKO) mice by CRISPR/Cas9 system and found that the DKO mice were sterile. DKO spermatozoa exhibit impaired migration from the uterus to the oviduct and impaired ability to bind the zona pellucida (ZP) of oocytes. Moreover, a sperm membrane protein, ADAM3 (a disintegrin and metalloprotease 3), which plays a role in sperm migration through uterotubal junction (UTJ) and sperm–ZP binding, disappeared in the DKO spermatozoa from the epididymis. We next generated single knockout (KO) mice lacking Prss51 and found that Prss51 KO mice are fertile. We also generated single KO mice lacking Prss55 and found that Prss55 KO mice phenocopy the DKO mice, demonstrating impaired sperm migration and sperm–ZP binding and a severe defect in fertility. We conclude that Prss55, but not Prss51, is required for male fertility in mice, by stabilizing ADAM3 protein for efficient sperm–UTJ migration and sperm–ZP binding. Our findings have implications for understanding additional genetic causes of the idiopathic male infertility and for the development of male or female contraceptives.

scholarly journals Co-expression of sperm membrane proteins CMTM2A and CMTM2B is essential for ADAM3 localization and male fertility in mice

2018 ◽  
Vol 131 (19) ◽  
pp. jcs221481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshitaka Fujihara ◽  
Asami Oji ◽  
Kanako Kojima-Kita ◽  
Tamara Larasati ◽  
Masahito Ikawa
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Proteins ◽  
Male Fertility ◽  
Sperm Membrane

scholarly journals The Dynamics of Gynodioecy in Plantago lanceolatu L. II. Mode of Action and Frequencies of Restorer Alleles

Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 147 (3) ◽  
pp. 1317-1328
Author(s):  
Anita A de Haan ◽  
Hans P Koelewijn ◽  
Maria P J Hundscheid ◽  
Jos M M Van Damme
Keyword(s):  
Cytoplasmic Male Sterility ◽  
Male Sterility ◽  
Allele Frequency ◽  
Mode Of Action ◽  
Male Fertility ◽  
Fertility Restoration ◽  
Plantago Lanceolata ◽  
Allele Frequencies ◽  
Male Sterile ◽  
Male Fertility Restoration

Male fertility in Plantago lanceolata is controlled by the interaction of cytoplasmic and nuclear genes. Different cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) types can be either male sterile or hermaphrodite, depending on the presence of nuclear restorer alleles. In three CMS types of P. lanceolata (CMSI, CMSIIa, and CMSIIb) the number of loci involved in male fertility restoration was determined. In each CMS type, male fertility was restored by multiple genes with either dominant or recessive action and capable either of restoring male fertility independently or in interaction with each other (epistasis). Restorer allele frequencies for CMSI, CMSIIa and CMSIIb were determined by crossing hermaphrodites with “standard” male steriles. Segregation of male steriles vs. non-male steriles was used to estimate overall restorer allele frequency. The frequency of restorer alleles was different for the CMS types: restorer alleles for CMSI were less frequent than for CMSIIa and CMSIIb. On the basis of the frequencies of male steriles and the CMS types an “expected” restorer allele frequency could be calculated. The correlation between estimated and expected restorer allele frequency was significant.

scholarly journals Specific Interactions Between Autosome and X Chromosomes Cause Hybrid Male Sterility in Caenorhabditis Species

Genetics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 212 (3) ◽  
pp. 801-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Bi ◽  
Xiaoliang Ren ◽  
Runsheng Li ◽  
Qiutao Ding ◽  
Dongying Xie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Male Sterility ◽  
Male Fertility ◽  
Genetic Mechanism ◽  
Hybrid Male ◽  
Female Progeny ◽  
Hybrid Male Sterility ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
F1 Progeny ◽  
Asymmetric Hybrid ◽  
Parent Of Origin

Hybrid male progeny from interspecies crosses are more prone to sterility or inviability than hybrid female progeny, and the male sterility and inviability often demonstrate parent-of-origin asymmetry. However, the underlying genetic mechanism of asymmetric sterility or inviability remains elusive. We previously established a genome-wide hybrid incompatibility (HI) landscape between Caenorhabditis briggsae and C. nigoni by phenotyping a large collection of C. nigoni strains each carrying a C. briggsae introgression. In this study, we systematically dissect the genetic mechanism of asymmetric sterility and inviability in both hybrid male and female progeny between the two species. Specifically, we performed reciprocal crosses between C. briggsae and different C. nigoni strains that each carry a GFP-labeled C. briggsae genomic fragment referred to as introgression, and scored the HI phenotypes in the F1 progeny. The aggregated introgressions cover 94.6% of the C. briggsae genome, including 100% of the X chromosome. Surprisingly, we observed that two C. briggsaeX fragments that produce C. nigoni male sterility as an introgression rescued hybrid F1 sterility in males fathered by C. briggsae. Subsequent backcrossing analyses indicated that a specific interaction between the X-linked interaction and one autosome introgression is required to rescue the hybrid male sterility. In addition, we identified another two C. briggsae genomic intervals on chromosomes II and IV that can rescue the inviability, but not the sterility, of hybrid F1 males fathered by C. nigoni, suggesting the involvement of differential epistatic interactions in the asymmetric hybrid male fertility and inviability. Importantly, backcrossing of the rescued sterile males with C. nigoni led to the isolation of a 1.1-Mb genomic interval that specifically interacts with an X-linked introgression, which is essential for hybrid male fertility. We further identified three C. briggsae genomic intervals on chromosome I, II, and III that produced inviability in all F1 progeny, dependent on or independent of the parent-of-origin. Taken together, we identified multiple independent interacting loci that are responsible for asymmetric hybrid male and female sterility, and inviability, which lays a foundation for their molecular characterization.

Corrigendum to: IQ motif containing D (IQCD), a new acrosomal protein involved in the acrosome reaction and fertilisation

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 1033
Author(s):  
Peng Zhang ◽  
Wanjun Jiang ◽  
Na Luo ◽  
Wenbing Zhu ◽  
Liqing Fan
Keyword(s):  
Acrosome Reaction ◽  
Development Stage ◽  
Seminiferous Tubules ◽  
Testicular Development ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Iq Motif ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Fertilisation Rate ◽  
Age Dependent ◽  
Mammalian Spermatozoa

The acrosome is single, large, dense-core secretory granule overlying the nucleus of most mammalian spermatozoa. Its exocytosis, the acrosome reaction, is a crucial event during fertilisation. In this study we identified a new acrosome-associated gene, namely IQ motif containing D (IQCD), expressed nearly in multiple tissues with highest expression levels in the testis. In mouse testis, Iqcd transcript accumulated from Postnatal Day (PND) 1 to adulthood. However, expression of IQCD protein at the testicular development stage started primarily from PND 18 and increased in an age-dependent manner until plateauing in adulthood. IQCD was primarily accumulated in the acrosome area of round and elongating spermatids within seminiferous tubules of the testes during the late stage of spermiogenesis; this immunolocalisation pattern is similar in mice and humans. IQCD levels in spermatozoa were significantly lower in IVF patients with total fertilisation failure or a low fertilisation rate than in healthy men. Anti-IQCD antibody significantly inhibited the acrosome reaction and slightly reduced protein tyrosine phosphorylation levels in human spermatozoa, but specifically blocked murine IVF. IQCD interacted with mammalian homolog of C. elegans uncoordinated gene 13 (Munc13) in spermatozoa and may participate in acrosome exocytosis. In conclusion, this study identified a new acrosomal protein, namely IQCD, which is involved in fertilisation and the acrosome reaction.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document