Li P, Chan H C, He B, So S C, Chung Y W, Shang Q, Zhang Y D, Zhang Y L
State Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320, Yue-Yang Road, Shanghai 200031, China.
Science. 2001 Mar 2;291(5509):1783-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1056545.
Little is known about the innate defense mechanisms of the male reproductive tract. We cloned a 385-base pair complementary DNA and its genomic DNA named Bin1b that is exclusively expressed in the caput region of the rat epididymis and that is responsible for sperm maturation, storage, and protection. Bin1b exhibits structural characteristics and antimicrobial activity similar to that of cationic antimicrobial peptides, beta-defensins. Bin1b is maximally expressed when the rats are sexually mature and can be up-regulated by inflammation. Bin1b appears to be a natural epididymis-specific antimicrobial peptide that plays a role in reproductive tract host defense and male fertility.
关于雄性生殖道的天然防御机制，我们所知甚少。我们克隆了一段385个碱基对的互补DNA及其基因组DNA，命名为Bin1b，它只在大鼠附睾的头部区域表达，负责精子的成熟、储存和保护。Bin1b表现出与阳离子抗菌肽β-防御素相似的结构特征和抗菌活性。当大鼠性成熟时，Bin1b表达量最高，并且可因炎症而上调。Bin1b似乎是一种天然的附睾特异性抗菌肽，在生殖道宿主防御和雄性生育能力方面发挥作用。
