The Sperm Protein Spaca6 is Essential for Fertilization in Zebrafish
Autor: | Victoria Eugenia Deneke, Karin Panser, Mirjam Isabel Binner, Andrea Pauli, Anna Kogan, Alexander Schleiffer |
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Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2022 |
Předmět: |
endocrine system
QH301-705.5 media_common.quotation_subject gamete Sperm protein sperm sperm-egg interaction reproduction Cell and Developmental Biology Human fertilization biology.animal Biology (General) Zebrafish media_common Original Research Fertility factor (bacteria) biology urogenital system Vertebrate Cell Biology biology.organism_classification zebrafish Sperm Cell biology fertilization Reproduction Function (biology) Developmental Biology |
Zdroj: | Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, Vol 9 (2022) Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology |
Popis: | Fertilization is a key process in all sexually reproducing species, yet the molecular mechanisms that underlie this event remain unclear. To date, only a few proteins have been shown to be essential for sperm-egg binding and fusion in mice, and only some are conserved across vertebrates. One of these conserved, testis-expressed factors is SPACA6, yet its function has not been investigated outside of mammals. Here we show that zebrafish spaca6 encodes for a sperm membrane protein which is essential for fertilization. Zebrafish spaca6 knockout males are sterile. Furthermore, Spaca6-deficient sperm have normal morphology, are motile, and can approach the egg, but fail to bind to the egg and therefore cannot complete fertilization. Interestingly, sperm lacking Spaca6 have decreased levels of another essential and conserved sperm fertility factor, Dcst2, revealing a previously unknown dependence of Dcst2 expression on Spaca6. Together, our results show that zebrafish Spaca6 regulates Dcst2 levels and is required for binding between the sperm membrane and the oolemma. This is in contrast to murine SPACA6, which was reported not to be required for sperm-egg membrane binding but necessary for fusion. These findings demonstrate that Spaca6 is essential for zebrafish fertilization and is a conserved sperm factor in vertebrate reproduction. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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