Testis-enriched is not required for spermatogenesis and fertility in mice.

BACKGROUND

Members of the ankyrin repeat and SOCS box (Asb) family are expressed abundantly in testes. Some Asb genes/proteins are required for spermatogenesis, but the function of Asb12 during spermatogenesis is not clear. We investigated the physiological role of in murine testes.

METHODS

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 system was used to generate -knockout (KO) mice. Histology and immunostaining were done to assess the effects of KO on mouse testes and epididymides. Semen quality was analyzed using a computer-assisted sperm analyzer. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-dUTP nick-end labeling assay was employed to examine testicular apoptosis. Real-time reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was conducted to calculate gene transcription levels.

RESULTS

was expressed predominantly in murine testes. Immunostaining of protein revealed that was located specifically in the acrosome of elongated spermatids, which suggested a potential role of during spermatogenesis. However, -KO mice had normal fertility, and no overt difference was detected in testicular morphology, semen quality, or apoptosis when comparing -KO and -wild type (WT) mice. Gene expression of several Asb family members was increased significantly in the testes of -KO mice when compared with that in -WT mice, which suggested functional compensation from paralogs for loss.

CONCLUSIONS

We demonstrated that is not essential for the spermatogenesis and fertility of mice. Our findings will assist researchers in avoiding redundant efforts, and provide a baseline resource for genetic studies on human fertility.