Publication Date
3-14-2023
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
DOI
10.1073/pnas.2221762120
PMID
36881620
PMCID
PMC10242716
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
3-7-2023
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Animals, Male, Mice, Cytoplasm, Cytosol, Germ Cell Ribonucleoprotein Granules, Mice, Knockout, Semen, Spermatids, Cytoskeletal Proteins, Phosphoproteins, spermiation, spermatogenesis, male fertility, male infertility, CRISPR/Cas9
Abstract
Spermatozoa have a streamlined shape to swim through the oviduct to fertilize oocytes. To become svelte spermatozoa, spermatid cytoplasm must be eliminated in several steps including sperm release, which is part of spermiation. Although this process has been well observed, the molecular mechanisms that underlie it remain unclear. In male germ cells, there are membraneless organelles called nuage, which are observed by electron microscopy in various forms of dense material. Reticulated body (RB) and chromatoid body remnant (CR) are two types of nuage in spermatids, but the functions of both are unknown. Using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we deleted the entire coding sequence of testis-specific serine kinase substrate (TSKS) in mice and demonstrate that TSKS is essential for male fertility through the formation of both RB and CR, prominent sites of TSKS localization. Due to the lack of TSKS-derived nuage (TDN), the cytoplasmic contents cannot be eliminated from spermatid cytoplasm in
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