Vitamin K-dependent γ-glutamyl carboxylase in Sertoli cells is essential for male fertility in mice
Gamma-glutamyl carboxylase (GGCX) is a vitamin K (VK)-dependent enzyme that catalyzes γ-carboxylation of glutamic acid residues in VK-dependent proteins. Anticoagulant warfarin is known to reduce GGCX activity by inhibiting VK cycle and is recently shown to disrupt spermatogenesis. To explore GGCX function in testis, we here generated Sertoli cell-specific Ggcx conditional knockout (Ggcx scKO) mice and investigated their testicular phenotype. Ggcx scKO mice exhibited late-onset male infertility. They possessed morphologically abnormal seminiferous tubules containing multinucleated and apoptotic germ cells, and their sperm concentration and motility were substantially reduced. Localization of connexin 43 (Cx43), a gap junction protein abundantly expressed in Sertoli cells and required for spermatogenesis, was distorted in Ggcx scKO testes, and Cx43 overexpression in Sertoli cells rescued the infertility of Ggcx scKO mice. These results highlight GGCX activity within Sertoli cells, which promotes spermatogenesis by regulating the intercellular connection between Sertoli cells and germ cells.