Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA.
Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA; Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, 430060, China.
Dev Biol. 2022 May;485:50-60. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2022.03.001. Epub 2022 Mar 4.
Sperm flagella formation is a complex process that requires cargo transport systems to deliver structural proteins for sperm flagella assembly. Two cargo transport systems, the intramanchette transport (IMT) and intraflagellar transport (IFT), have been shown to play critical roles in spermatogenesis and sperm flagella formation. IMT exists only in elongating spermatids, while IFT is responsible for delivering cargo proteins in the developing cilia/flagella. Our laboratory discovered that mouse meiosis expressed gene 1 (MEIG1), a gene essential for sperm flagella formation, is present in the manchette of elongating spermatids. IFT complex components, IFT20 and IFT88, are also present in the manchette of the elongating spermatids. Given that the three proteins have the same localization in elongating spermatids and are essential for normal spermatogenesis and sperm flagella formation, we hypothesize that they are in the same complex, which is supported by co-immunoprecipitation assay using mouse testis extracts. In the Meig1 knockout mice, neither IFT20 nor IFT88 was present in the manchette in the elongating spermatids even though their localizations were normal in spermatocytes and round spermatids. However, MEIG1 was still present in the manchette in elongating spermatids of the conditional Ift20 knockout mice. In the sucrose gradient assay, both IFT20 and IFT88 proteins drifted from higher density fractions to lighter ones in the Meig1 knockout mice. MEIG1 distribution was not changed in the conditional Ift20 knockout mice. Finally, testicular IFT20 and IFT88 protein and mRNA levels were significantly reduced in Meig1 knockout mice. Our data suggests that MEIG1 is a key protein in determining the manchette localization of certain IFT components, including IFT20 and IFT88, in male germ cells.
精子鞭毛的形成是一个复杂的过程,需要货物运输系统将结构蛋白运送到精子鞭毛组装的地方。两种货物运输系统,内鞭毛运输(IMT)和鞭毛内运输(IFT),已被证明在精子发生和精子鞭毛形成中发挥关键作用。IMT 仅存在于伸长的精母细胞中,而 IFT 负责在发育中的纤毛/鞭毛中输送货物蛋白。我们的实验室发现,在减数分裂中表达的小鼠基因 1(MEIG1),是精子鞭毛形成所必需的基因,存在于伸长的精母细胞的顶体中。IFT 复合物成分 IFT20 和 IFT88 也存在于伸长的精母细胞的顶体中。鉴于这三种蛋白质在伸长的精母细胞中有相同的定位,并且对正常精子发生和精子鞭毛形成是必需的,我们假设它们在同一个复合物中,这一假设得到了使用小鼠睾丸提取物进行的免疫共沉淀分析的支持。在 Meig1 敲除小鼠中,IFT20 和 IFT88 都不存在于伸长的精母细胞的顶体中,尽管它们在精母细胞和圆形精子中的定位是正常的。然而,MEIG1 仍然存在于条件性 Ift20 敲除小鼠的伸长精母细胞的顶体中。在蔗糖梯度分析中,IFT20 和 IFT88 蛋白在 Meig1 敲除小鼠中从较高密度的分数漂移到较轻的分数。MEIG1 的分布在条件性 Ift20 敲除小鼠中没有改变。最后,Meig1 敲除小鼠睾丸中的 IFT20 和 IFT88 蛋白和 mRNA 水平显著降低。我们的数据表明,MEIG1 是决定某些 IFT 成分(包括 IFT20 和 IFT88)在雄性生殖细胞中顶体定位的关键蛋白。