Expression of lrwd1 in mouse testis and its centrosomal localization.

The mouse leucine-rich repeats and WD repeat domain containing 1 (lrwd1) gene is located on chromosome 5qG2 and spans over 13 kilobases. It encodes a novel protein of 648-amino acid protein that shares 78.3% amino acid sequence identity with the human LRWD1 protein. We used an oligopeptide as immunogen to generate an anti-lrwd1 antibody in rabbits. Both Northern and Western blot results indicated that the expression of lrwd1 is testis specific. Immunostaining of mouse testis sections detected high levels of lrwd1 signals in the cytoplasm of primary spermatocytes to mature spermatozoa and much weaker signals in spermatogonia. On mature spermatozoa, the anti-lrwd1 antibody stained strongly the connection region between the head and the neck where the centrosome is located. Additional immunostaining and immunoprecipitation showed colocalization and interaction between lrwd1 and γ-tubulin respectively, implicating lrwd1 as a candidate centrosomal protein. These results suggest that lrwd1 may play an important role in spermatogenesis.