Brütsch Simone Hanna, Rademacher Marlena, Roth Sophia Regina, Müller Karin, Eder Susanne, Viertel Dagmar, Franz Christiane, Kuhn Hartmut, Borchert Astrid
From the Institute of Biochemistry, Charite-University Medicine Berlin, Virchowweg 6, D-10117 Berlin, Germany and.
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, D-10315 Berlin, Germany.
J Biol Chem. 2016 Nov 4;291(45):23578-23588. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M116.738930. Epub 2016 Sep 15.
Glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and arachidonic acid 15-lipoxygenase (ALOX15) are antagonizing enzymes in the metabolism of hydroperoxy lipids. In spermatoid cells and/or in the male reproductive system both enzymes are apparently expressed, and GPX4 serves as anti-oxidative enzyme but also as a structural protein. In this study we explored whether germ line inactivation of the Alox15 gene might rescue male subfertility induced by heterozygous expression of catalytically silent Gpx4. To address this question we employed Gpx4 knock-in mice expressing the Sec46Ala-Gpx4 mutant, in which the catalytic selenocysteine was replaced by a redox inactive alanine. Because homozygous Gpx4 knock-in mice (Sec46Ala-Gpx4) are not viable we created heterozygous animals (Sec46Ala-Gpx4) and crossed them with Alox15 knock-out mice (Alox15). Male Sec46Ala-Gpx4 mice, but not their female littermates, were subfertile. Sperm extracted from the epididymal cauda showed strongly impaired motility characteristics and severe structural midpiece alterations (swollen mitochondria, intramitochondrial vacuoles, disordered mitochondrial capsule). Despite these structural alterations, they exhibited similar respiration characteristics than wild-type sperm. When Sec46Ala-Gpx4 mice were crossed with Alox15-deficient animals, the resulting males (Sec46Ala-Gpx4+Alox15) showed normalized fertility, and sperm motility was reimproved to wild-type levels. Taken together these data suggest that systemic inactivation of the Alox15 gene normalizes the reduced fertility of male Sec46Ala-Gpx4 mice by improving the motility of their sperm. If these data can be confirmed in humans, ALOX15 inhibitors might counteract male infertility related to GPX4 deficiency.
谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶4(GPX4)和花生四烯酸15-脂氧合酶(ALOX15)是氢过氧脂质代谢中的拮抗酶。在精子细胞和/或雄性生殖系统中,这两种酶均有明显表达,GPX4不仅作为抗氧化酶,还作为一种结构蛋白。在本研究中,我们探究了Alox15基因的种系失活是否可以挽救由催化沉默的Gpx4杂合表达诱导的雄性生育力低下。为解决这个问题,我们使用了表达Sec46Ala-Gpx4突变体的Gpx4基因敲入小鼠,其中催化性硒代半胱氨酸被氧化还原无活性的丙氨酸所取代。由于纯合Gpx4基因敲入小鼠(Sec46Ala-Gpx4)无法存活,我们创建了杂合动物(Sec46Ala-Gpx4)并将它们与Alox15基因敲除小鼠(Alox15)杂交。雄性Sec46Ala-Gpx4小鼠而非其雌性同窝小鼠生育力低下。从附睾尾部提取的精子显示出运动特征严重受损以及中段结构严重改变(线粒体肿胀、线粒体内空泡、线粒体包膜紊乱)。尽管有这些结构改变,但它们表现出与野生型精子相似的呼吸特征。当Sec46Ala-Gpx4小鼠与Alox15缺陷动物杂交时,所产生的雄性(Sec46Ala-Gpx4+Alox15)生育力恢复正常,精子活力也恢复到野生型水平。综上所述,这些数据表明Alox15基因的全身失活通过改善精子活力使雄性Sec46Ala-Gpx4小鼠降低的生育力恢复正常。如果这些数据能在人类中得到证实,ALOX15抑制剂可能会对抗与GPX4缺乏相关的男性不育。