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Volume 10, Issue 5 (September 2008) 10, 711–718; 10.1111/j.1745-7262.2008.00426.x
Characterizing mouse male germ cell-specific actin capping protein α3 (CPα3): dynamic patterns of expression in testicular and epididymal sperm
Keizo Tokuhiro1, Yasushi Miyagawa2 and Hiromitsu Tanaka1,3,4
1 TANAKA Project, Center for Advanced Science and Innovation, Osaka University, 3-1 Yamadaoka, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
2 Department of Urology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
3 Department of Science for Laboratory Animal Experimentation, Research Institute for Microbial Disease, Osaka University, 3-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
4 Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagasaki International University, Sasebo, Nagasaki 859-3298, Japan
Correspondence: Dr Hiromitsu Tanaka, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagasaki International University, Huis Ten Bosch, Sasebo, Nagasaki 859-3298, Japan. Fax: +81-956-20-5651. E-mail: h-tanaka@niu.ac.jp
Received 21 November 2007; Accepted 22 April 2008
| Abstract |
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Aim: To characterize mouse capping protein α3 (CPα3) during spermatogenesis and sperm maturation.
Methods: We produced rat anti-CPα3 antiserum and examined the expression of CPα3 in various mouse tissues using Western blot analysis and the localization of CPα3 in testicular and epididymal sperm using immunohistochemical analyses. We also examined how the localization of CPα3 and β-actin (ACTB) in sperm changed after the acrosomal reaction by performing immunohistochemical analyses using anti-CPα3 antiserum and anti-actin antibody.
Results: Western blot analysis using specific antiserum revealed that CPα3 was expressed specifically in testes. Interestingly, the molecular weight of CPα3 changed during sperm maturation in the epididymis. Furthermore, the subcellular localization of CPα3 in sperm changed dynamically from the flagellum to the post-acrosomal region of the head during epididymal maturation. The distribution of ACTB was in the post-acrosomal region of the head and the flagellum. After inducing the acrosomal reaction, the CPα3 and ACTB localization was virtually identical to the localization before the acrosomal reaction.
Conclusion: CPα3 might play an important role in sperm morphogenesis and/or sperm function.
Keywords: acrosome, male germ cell-specific, spermatogenesis, testis
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