Myers Caitlyn, Atkins Georgia Rae, Villarreal Johanna, Sutton R Bryan, Cornwall Gail A
Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA.
Department of Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA.
iScience. 2024 May 31;27(6):110152. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110152. eCollection 2024 Jun 21.
The mouse epididymis is a long tubule connecting the testis to the vas deferens. Its primary functions are to mature spermatozoa into motile and fertile cells and to protect them from pathogens that ascend the male tract. We previously demonstrated that a functional extracellular amyloid matrix surrounds spermatozoa in the epididymal lumen and has host defense functions, properties not unlike that of an extracellular biofilm that encloses and protects a bacterial community. Here we show the epididymal amyloid matrix also structurally resembles a biofilm by containing eDNA, eRNA, and mucin-like polysaccharides. Further these structural components exhibit comparable behaviors and perform functions such as their counterparts in bacterial biofilms. Our studies suggest that nature has used the ancient building blocks of bacterial biofilms to form an analogous structure that nurtures and protects the mammalian male germline.
小鼠附睾是一条连接睾丸与输精管的长管。其主要功能是使精子成熟为有活力和能生育的细胞，并保护它们免受沿男性生殖道上行的病原体侵害。我们之前证明，一种功能性细胞外淀粉样基质包围着附睾管腔中的精子，并具有宿主防御功能，其特性与包围并保护细菌群落的细胞外生物膜并无不同。在此我们表明，附睾淀粉样基质在结构上也类似于生物膜，因为它含有胞外DNA（eDNA）、胞外RNA（eRNA）和黏蛋白样多糖。此外，这些结构成分表现出与细菌生物膜中的对应成分相当的行为，并执行类似的功能。我们的研究表明，大自然利用了细菌生物膜的古老构建模块来形成一种类似的结构，以滋养和保护哺乳动物的雄性生殖系。
