Transition proteins replace testis-specific histones and are finally replaced by protamines in the nucleus of germ cells during spermiogenesis. In this study, immunoperoxidase and immunogold localization were used to determine both qualitatively and quantitatively the intracellular distribution of testis-specific histone (H1t), transition protein 1(TP1), and transition protein 2 (TP2) during rat spermatogenesis. H1t labeling was concentrated over heterochromatin in the nucleus of late-pachytene spermatocytes and spermatids up to mid-steps 10. In step 9 spermatids, H1t was confined to the caudal end of the nucleus where heterochromatin was still present, while in early step 10 spermatids, only a few of the nuclei remained caudally labeled. In late step 10 spermatids, a fibrillar chromatin network was distributed throughout the nucleus coincident with the loss of H1t. A statistically significant rise in TP1 and TP2 labeling density over control values was first encountered in the nucleus of step 11 spermatids coincident with the initiation of condensation of the fibrillar chromatin. The TP1 and TP2 labeling density progressively increased in nucleus of step 11-13 spermatids with the apical to caudal condensation of the fibrillar chromatin, In step 13 spermatids, the chromatin was homogeneously condensed throughout the nucleus. In the case of TP1, the nuclear labeling density gradually declined after step 13 and disappeared by step 17. In the case of TP2, the nuclear labeling density disappeared by step 16. This study shows that, coincident with the loss of H1t, the chromatin of the spermatid is reorganized into a fibrillar network, whereas, coincident with the appearance and progressive increase of TP1 and TP2, the fibrillar chromatin condenses in an apical to caudal direction in the nucleus of the spermatid. Thus the remodeling of chromatin structure during spermiogenesis appears to be a two-step process that is sequentially influenced by the loss of spermatid-specific histones and the appearance of transition proteins.
Abstract. Immunocytochemical localization and in situ hybridization techniques were used to investigate the presence of spermatid nuclear transition protein 1 (TP1) and its mRNA during the various stages of spermatogenesis in the rat. A specific antiserum to TP1 was raised in a rabbit and used to show that TP1 is immunologically crossreactive among many mammals including humans. During spermatogenesis the protein appears in spermatids as they progress from step 12 to step 13, a period in which nuclear condensation is underway. The protein is lost during step 15. An asymmetric RNA probe generated from a TP1 cDNA clone identified TP1 mRNA in late round spermatids beginning in step 7. The message could no longer be detected in spermatids of step 15 or beyond. Thus, TP1 mRNA first appears well after meiosis in haploid cells but is not translated effectively for the several days required for these cells to progress to the stage of chromatin condensation. Message and then protein disappear as the spermatids enter step 15. In agreement with a companion biochemical study (Heidaran, M. A., and W. S. Kistler. J. Biol. Chem. 1987. 262:13309-13315), these results establish that translational control is involved in synthesis of this major spermatid nuclear protein. In addition, they suggest that TP1 plays a role in the completion but not the initiation of chromatin condensation in elongated spermatids. DJRING spermatogenesis, spermatogonia proliferate mitotically to give rise to primary spermatocytes, which undergo meiosis to yield haploid spermatids, which in turn gradually transform into spermatozoa. About midway through spermatid development in mammals and many other organisms, the nucleus undergoes a rather sudden change in shape, and the chromatin condenses. In mammals this change in the chromatin is accompanied by a transition from histones to a class of novel nuclear "transition proteins" (1,7,23,28,29,34), which are later replaced by the characteristic arginine and cysteine-rich mammalian protamines (2,3,23,35). Once the chromatin begins to condense, its nucleosomal structure is lost (22, 30), and available evidence indicates that transcription ceases (10,22). If this is so, then it follows that any messenger RNAs for proteins that will appear at later stages of spermatogenesis must be laid down before the point of chromatin condensation.It is well established that the mRNAs for the protamines are transcribed early in spermatogenesis and then regulated at the posttranscriptional level until needed. In trout, protamine messages are synthesized before the end of meiosis and are found in a translationally inert ribonucleoprotein particle throughout the early stages of spermatid development (20,43). In the mouse, a similar situation occurs though in this case the message first appears in round spermatids rather than in spermatocytes (26). Such translational regulation has not yet been established for other types of mRNAs during spermatogenesis.We were interested to see if translational control also applies to spermatid n...
Rat seminal vesicle secretion is a rich source of a flavoprotein oxidase that acts upon sulfhydryl compounds. The enzyme was obtained in homogeneous form as previously described [Ostrowski, M. C., Kistler, W. S., & Williams-Ashman, H. G. (1979) Biochem. Biophy. Res. Commun. 87, 171-176] and characterized with respect to prosthetic group, size, reaction stoichiometry, and substrate specificity. On the basis of its behavior during zone sedimentation, gel filtration, and electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate, it appears to be a monomeric enzyme of about 66 000 daltons. Acid denaturation liberates 1 mol of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) per mol of enzyme. The reaction catalyzed was shown to be 2RSH + O2 leads to H2O2. Superoxide formation could be demonstrated. Unlike many flavoprotein oxidases, the enzyme failed to form a bleached complex with sulfite. The enzyme accepts a variety of small sulfhydryl compounds as substrates, including glutathione, cysteine, dithiothreitol, and 2-mercaptoethanol. Michaelis-Menten kinetics were obtained with these substrates providing disulfide contamination was initially eliminated by treating thiols with borohydride. The KM for glutathione was 4.4 mM with a Vmax estimated as 660 mumol per min per mg of protein. The enzyme was capable of markedly enhancing the rate of renaturation of fully reduced ribonuclease. The physiological function of the enzyme is not yet clear, though several possibilities are discussed.
The activity of glycerol kinase is rate-limiting in the metabolism of glycerol by cells of Escherichia coli. A mutant strain producing a glycerol kinase resistant to inhibition by fructose-I , 6-diphosphate grows faster than its wild-type parent on glycerol as the sole source of carbon and energy. The amount of intracellular fructose-1 ,6-diphosphate was determined for wild-type cells growing exponentially on glycerol. The water content of such cells was also determined, allowing calculation of the intracellular concentration of fructose-1 ,6-diphosphate. This value, 1.7 mm, is adequate to exert substantial inhibition on the wild-type glycerol kinase. The desensitization of glycerol kinase to feedback inhibition also enhances the power of glycerol to exert catabolite repression, both on the enzymes of the glycerol system itself and on those of the lactose system. However, desensitization of glycerol kinase alone does not eliminate the phenomenon of diauxic growth in a glucose-glycerol medium. Biphasic growth in such a medium is abolished if the altered enzyme is produced constitutively. The constitutive production of the mutant kinase at high levels, however, renders the cells vulnerable to glycerol. Thus, when the cells have been grown on a carbon source with a low power for catabolite repression, e.g., succinate, sudden exposure to glycerol leads to overconsumption of the nutrient and cell death.for sensitivity of the enzyme to FDP at pH 7.5 (29). Protein was determined by the biuret reagent (8).Specific activities are expressed as micromoles of substrate converted per minute per milligram of protein at 25 C.Determination of intracellular FDP levels. Cells of strain 7 were grown in 35 ml of glycerol mineral me-753 on August 5, 2020 by guest
Spermatogenesis consists broadly of three phases: proliferation of diploid germ cells, meiosis, and finally extensive differentiation of the haploid cells into effective delivery vehicles for the paternal genome. Despite detailed characterization of many haploid developmental steps leading to sperm, only fragmentary information exists on the control of gene expression underlying these processes. Here we report that the RFX2 transcription factor is a master regulator of genes required for the haploid phase. A targeted mutation of Rfx2 was created in mice. Rfx2-/- mice are perfectly viable but show complete male sterility. Spermatogenesis appears to progress unperturbed through meiosis. However, haploid cells undergo a complete arrest in spermatid development just prior to spermatid elongation. Arrested cells show altered Golgi apparatus organization, leading to a deficit in the generation of a spreading acrosomal cap from proacrosomal vesicles. Arrested cells ultimately merge to form giant multinucleated cells released to the epididymis. Spermatids also completely fail to form the flagellar axoneme. RNA-Seq analysis and ChIP-Seq analysis identified 139 genes directly controlled by RFX2 during spermiogenesis. Gene ontology analysis revealed that genes required for cilium function are specifically enriched in down- and upregulated genes showing that RFX2 allows precise temporal expression of ciliary genes. Several genes required for cell adhesion and cytoskeleton remodeling are also downregulated. Comparison of RFX2-regulated genes with those controlled by other major transcriptional regulators of spermiogenesis showed that each controls independent gene sets. Altogether, these observations show that RFX2 plays a major and specific function in spermiogenesis.
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