Post–transcriptional control of gene expression during spermatogenesis

Braun, Robert E.

doi:10.1006/scdb.1998.0226

Cited by 146 publications

(136 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…3), no Gas8 protein was detected until after testes maturation. Similar transcription and translation patterns have been observed for other genes regulated during gametogenesis (16). As transcription is known to cease in germ cells during midspermiogenesis and protein production is regulated during spermiogenesis by post-transcriptional mechanisms (16,33), the postmeiotic developmental regulation FIG.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

“…This process involves complex regulation of at least in part the post-transcriptional level of the expression of a variety of testis-specific genes (16). We show here that Gas8 is predominantly a testicular protein, whose expression in mice is developmentally regulated during puberty and spermatogenesis and in humans is absent in infertile males who lack the ability to generate gametes.…”

mentioning

confidence: 73%

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Isolation and Properties of Gas8, a Growth Arrest-specific Gene Regulated during Male Gametogenesis to Produce a Protein Associated with the Sperm Motility Apparatus

Yeh¹,

Chen²,

Chang³

et al. 2002

Journal of Biological Chemistry

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Growth arrest-specific (Gas) genes are expressed during serum starvation or contact inhibition of cells grown in culture. Here we report the isolation and characterization of Gas8, a novel gene identified on the basis of its growth arrest-specific expression in murine fibroblasts. We show that production of Gas8 mRNA and protein occurs in adult mice predominantly in the testes, where expression is regulated during postmeiotic development of male gametocytes. Whereas a low level of Gas8 mRNA was detected by Northern blotting in testes of murine male neonates and young adolescents, Gas8 mRNA increased rapidly postmeiotically. In adult males, both Gas8 mRNA and protein reached steady state levels in testes that were 10-fold higher than in other tissues. Immunohistochemical analyses showed that Gas8 protein accumulates in gametocytes as they approach the lumen of seminiferous tubules and is localized to the cytoplasm of round spermatids, the tails of elongating spermatids, and mature spermatid tail bundles protruding into the lumen; in epididymal spermatozoa Gas8 protein was present in the flagella. However, premeiotic murine gametocytes lacked detectable Gas8 protein, as did seminiferous tubules in biopsy specimens from seven human males having cytological evidence of nonobstructive azoospermia secondary to Sertoli cell-only syndrome. Our findings, which associate Gas8 production developmentally with the later stages of spermatogenesis and spatially with the sperm motility apparatus, collectively suggest that this growth arrest-specific gene product may have a role in sperm motility. This postulated role for Gas8 is supported by our observation that highly localized production of Gas8 protein occurs also in the cilia of epithelial cells lining pulmonary bronchi and fallopian tubes and by the flagellar association of a Trypanosoma brucei ortholog of Gas8.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

mentioning

confidence: 73%

Isolation and Properties of Gas8, a Growth Arrest-specific Gene Regulated during Male Gametogenesis to Produce a Protein Associated with the Sperm Motility Apparatus

Yeh¹,

Chen²,

Chang³

et al. 2002

Journal of Biological Chemistry

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“…During spermiogenesis, histone proteins are replaced sequentially by transition proteins (TPs) and protamines (Brewer et al, 2002). The histone-TP/protamine exchange, incorporation of testis-specific histone variants, and stage-specific histone modifications lead to a highly compact chromatin structure in the sperm (Braun, 1998;Caron et al, 2005). This chromatin structure may repress transcription (SassoneCorsi, 2002) and is therefore postulated to be relevant with regard to transcription silencing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Erasure of the paternal transcription program during spermiogenesis: The first step in the reprogramming of sperm chromatin for zygotic development

Zheng

Xia

Ding

et al. 2008

Developmental Dynamics

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Male germ cells possess a unique epigenetic program and express a male-specific transcription profile. However, when its chromatin is passed onto the zygote, it expresses an transcription/epigenetic program characteristic of the zygote. The mechanism underlying this reprogramming process is not understood at present. In this study, we show that an extensive range of chromatin factors (CFs), including essential transcription factors and regulators, remodeling factors, histone deacetylases, heterochromatin-binding proteins, and topoisomerases, were removed from chromatin during spermiogenesis. This process will erase the paternal epigenetic program to generate a relatively naive chromatin, which is likely to be essential for installation of the zygotic developmental program after fertilization. We have also showed that transcription termination in male germ cells was temporally correlated with CF dissociation. A genome-wide CF dissociation will inevitably disassemble the transcription apparatus and regulatory mechanism and lead to transcription silence. Based on data presented in this and previous studies (Sun et al., Cell Research [2007] 17:117-134), we propose that paternal-zygotic transcription reprogramming begins with a genome-wide CF dissociation to erase the existing transcription program in later stages of spermatogenesis. This will be followed by assembling of the zygotic equivalent after fertilization. The transcription/epigenetic program of the male germ cell is transformed into a zygotic one using an erase-and-rebuild strategy similar to that used in the maternal-zygotic transition. It is also noted that transcription is terminated long after meiosis is completed and before chromatin becomes highly condensed during spermatogenesis. The temporal order of these events suggests that transcription silence does not have to be coupled to meiosis or chromatin condensation.

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“…Male infertility is affected by intrinsic factors such as genetic disorders, that can cause the impairment of spermatogenesis at several stages such as at the differentiation of spermatogonia into spermatocytes, at meiosis in spermatocytes, and at metamorphosis during spermiogenesis (Braun 1998;Okabe et al, 1998;Escalier, 2001;Toshimori et al, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The spermatid nucleus condenses in the elongating stage (Braun, 1998). The manchette is a bundle of microtubules that surrounds the posterior half of the elongating spermatid nucleus (Fawcett et al, 1971;Russell et al, 1991;Tarsounas et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Failure to assemble the peri-nuclear structures in GOPC deficient spermatids as found in round-headed spermatozoa

Ito

Suzuki-Toyota

Maekawa

et al. 2004

Archives of Histology and Cytology

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formed, and did not always associate with developing spermatids. Consequently, spermatid nuclear elongation to form round-headed spermatozoa developed was impaired.In addition to these sequential failures, the posterior ring deficiency was attributed to the tail deformation destined to occur during epididymal maturation as reported in an accompanying paper (Suzuki-Toyota et al., 2004 in this issue), its eventual phenotype being reminiscent of the round-headed spermatozoa of human infertile globozoospermia.

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Post–transcriptional control of gene expression during spermatogenesis

Cited by 146 publications

References 48 publications

Isolation and Properties of Gas8, a Growth Arrest-specific Gene Regulated during Male Gametogenesis to Produce a Protein Associated with the Sperm Motility Apparatus

Isolation and Properties of Gas8, a Growth Arrest-specific Gene Regulated during Male Gametogenesis to Produce a Protein Associated with the Sperm Motility Apparatus

Erasure of the paternal transcription program during spermiogenesis: The first step in the reprogramming of sperm chromatin for zygotic development

Failure to assemble the peri-nuclear structures in GOPC deficient spermatids as found in round-headed spermatozoa

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