Identification and characterization of a novel mouse and human MOPT gene containing MORN-motif protein in testis.

A novel testis-derived membrane occupation and recognition nexus (MORN)-motif protein was identified in mouse testis (MOPT) by subtraction screening methods and found to be localized on chromosome 17E3, spanning approximately 7kb. Sequence analysis showed that MOPT contains 669 base pair nucleotides of open reading frame and the corresponding 79 amino acids. The protein is predicted to have theoretical molecular mass of 9000 Da and an expected isoelectric point of 5.8 and seems to have unique sequences except for MORN-motif domain. The transcript of MOPT is highly and specifically expressed in adult testis as well as skeletal muscle. Moreover, MOPT transcript and protein are confined mainly to round and elongated spermatids, except for a few individual dispersed spermatocytes, and increase in abundance at subsequent stages. MOPT first appeared in the proacrosomic vesicles of the early Golgi phase spermatids and was translocated from the head cap of elongated spermatid to the nucleus of mature spermatozoa at the final stage of spermiogenesis. Our study suggests that MOPT may play an important role in dynamic regulation of acrosome biogenesis during late spermiogenesis.