The Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-Anchored Serine Protease PRSS21 (Testisin) Imparts Murine Epididymal Sperm Cell Maturation and Fertilizing Ability
The Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-Anchored Serine Protease PRSS21 (Testisin) Imparts Murine Epididymal Sperm Cell Maturation and Fertilizing Ability
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DOI：
10.1095/biolreprod.109.076273
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发表时间：
2009-11-01
影响因子：
3.6
通讯作者：
Antalis, Toni M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Netzel-Arnett, Sarah;Bugge, Thomas H.;Antalis, Toni M.
据估计，25%-40%的不育男性患有与精子数量和质量不足相关的特发性不育症。在这里，我们鉴定了膜锚定的丝氨酸蛋白酶PRSS21，也被称为睾丸蛋白，它是一种新的蛋白分解因子，指导附睾精子细胞成熟和精子受精能力。缺乏PRSS21的精子表现出活力降低、尾巴成角度和卷曲、颈部脆弱，并极大地增加了被斩首的敏感性。这些缺陷反映了精子在通过附睾体过程中的异常成熟，因为组织学和电子显微镜结构分析显示，随着精子从附睾体转移到附睾尾部，尾巴卷曲和脱落的趋势增加。缺乏PRSS21的尾部附睾精子在低渗条件下不能产生肿胀反应，这表明对雌性生殖道中成熟精子面临的渗透挑战的反应能力受损。这些数据表明，PRSS21的异常调控可能是某些继发性男性不育综合征的基础，例如人类的精子很容易被斩首。
An estimated 25%-40% of infertile men have idiopathic infertility associated with deficient sperm numbers and quality. Here, we identify the membrane-anchored serine protease PRSS21, also known as testisin, to he a novel proteolytic factor that directs epididymal sperm cell maturation and sperm-fertilizing ability. PRSS21-deficient spermatozoa show decreased motility, angulated and curled tails, fragile necks, and dramatically increased susceptibility to decapitation. These defects reflect aberrant maturation during passage through the epididymis, because histological and electron microscopic structural analyses showed an increased tendency for curled and detached tails as spermatozoa transit from the corpus to the cauda epididymis. Cauda epididymal spermatozoa deficient in PRSS21 fail to mount a swelling response when exposed to hypotonic conditions, suggesting an impaired ability to respond to osmotic challenges facing maturing spermatozoa in the female reproductive tract. These data suggest that aberrant regulation of PRSS21 may underlie certain secondary male infertility syndromes, such as "easily decapitated" spermatozoa in humans.