Isolation and characterization of a basic keratin-like protein from mammalian spermatozoa

Actl7b deficiency leads to mislocalization of LC8 type dynein light chains and disruption of murine spermatogenesis

Actin-related proteins (Arps) are classified according to their similarity to actin and are involved in diverse cellular processes. ACTL7B is a testis-specific Arp, and is highly conserved in rodents and primates. ACTL7B is specifically expressed in round and elongating spermatids during spermiogenesis. Here, we have generated an Actl7b-null allele in mice to unravel the role of ACTL7B in sperm formation. Male mice homozygous for the Actl7b-null allele (Actl7b-/-) were infertile, whereas heterozygous males (Actl7b+/-) were fertile. Severe spermatid defects, such as detached acrosomes, disrupted membranes and flagella malformations start to appear after spermiogenesis step 9 in Actl7b-/- mice, finally resulting in spermatogenic arrest. Abnormal spermatids were degraded and levels of autophagy markers were increased. Co-immunoprecipitation with mass spectrometry experiments identified an interaction between ACTL7B and the LC8 dynein light chains DYNLL1 and DYNLL2, which are first detected in step 9 spermatids and mislocalized when ACTL7B is absent. Our data unequivocally establish that mutations in ACTL7B are directly related to male infertility, pressing for additional research in humans.

Loss of Prm1 leads to defective chromatin protamination, impaired PRM2 processing, reduced sperm motility and subfertility in male mice

One of the key events during spermiogenesis is the hypercondensation of chromatin by substitution of the majority of histones by protamines. In humans and mice, protamine 1 (PRM1/Prm1) and protamine 2 (PRM2/Prm2) are expressed in a species-specific ratio. Using CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene editing, we generated Prm1-deficient mice and demonstrated that Prm1+/- mice were subfertile, whereas Prm1-/- mice were infertile. Prm1-/- and Prm2-/- sperm showed high levels of reactive oxygen species-mediated DNA damage and increased histone retention. In contrast, Prm1+/- sperm displayed only moderate DNA damage. The majority of Prm1+/- sperm were CMA3 positive, indicating protamine-deficient chromatin, although this was not the result of increased histone retention in Prm1+/- sperm. However, sperm from Prm1+/- and Prm1-/- mice contained high levels of incompletely processed PRM2. Furthermore, the PRM1:PRM2 ratio was skewed from 1:2 in wild type to 1:5 in Prm1+/- animals. Our results reveal that PRM1 is required for proper PRM2 processing to produce mature PRM2, which, together with PRM1, is able to hypercondense DNA. Thus, the species-specific PRM1:PRM2 ratio has to be precisely controlled in order to retain full fertility.

Structure of human sperm chromatin: a study on the accessibility of DNA to macromolecules

The structure of human sperm chromatin compared with somatic chromatin (liver) was studied by titration of the exposed DNA-phosphate groups with poly-1-lysine (3000 and 28,100 MW) and by their susceptibility to the hydrolytic action of micrococcal nuclease and DNase I. With both sizes of polylysine used, the binding values were significantly lower for sperm chromatin (0.31 +/- 0.05) than for liver chromatin (0.52 +/- 0.05), indicating the presence of about 30% and 52% of free phosphate groups, respectively. Interaction with liver chromatin left no polylysine molecules partially unbound ("wastage") even when 28,100 MW polylysine was used; on the contrary, sperm chromatin showed 26% of "wasted" polylysine even when the smaller polymer was used, indicating that in sperm chromatin the accessible DNA zones are usually no longer than 42 A, that is, 12 base pair. Sperm chromatin was notably more susceptible to both micrococcal nuclease and DNase I action than liver chromatin. However, in the presence of saturating concentrations of polylysine they were similarly protected. Micrococcal nuclease and DNase I hydrolysis products of sperm fractions when submitted to electrophoresis produced a polydisperse smearing pattern along the gel that was difficult to correlate with the presence of nucleosomal structure.

Lability to acid hydrolysis in some different DNA-protein complexes of spermatozoa

The Feulgen hydrolysis kinetics was investigated in spermatozoa with different composition in DNA-protein complexes. The species used were: Bos taurus (arginine rich nuclear protein also containing cystine residues), Pichroplus bergi, Triatoma infestans (arginine-rich nuclear protein), Lytechinus variegatus and Apis mellifera (lysine-rich nuclear protein). The spermatozoa were subjected to Feulgen's reaction, after varying the fixative type and the hydrolysis times. Feulgen-DNA values were obtained with an automatic scanning cytophotometric procedure. Differences were demonstrated in the hydrolysis kinetics as a function of differences in composition of the DNA-protein complexes being present in the spermatozoon chromatin. Differences in the profiles of Feulgen hydrolysis curves, having for basis the fixation, were rather clear for bull, grasshopper, and blood-sucking insect spermatozoa than for the sea-urchin and bee spermatozoa. The different hydrolysis kinetics of chromatin of blood-sucking insect spermatozoa compared to that of grasshopper, sea-urchin, and bee sperm cells suggests that, although the first 2 materials contain an arginine-rich "germinative" protein and the latter 2 ones contain a lysine-rich protein, these differ to each other. The DNA depurination was obtained more quickly for T. infestans (20 min) and P. bergi (10 min) spermatozoa when they were fixed in the ethanol-acetic acid (EA) mixture. Morphologically anomalous bull spermatozoa fixed in the EA mixture presented a quicker depurination (30 min) as compared to the normal cells (1 h). The fast lability to acid hydrolysis in the abnormal cells is certainly due to anomalies in their basic nuclear "germinative" protein. In the formalin fixed materials the maximal depurination was obtained earlier in bull spermatozoa (30 min) followed by sperm cells of P. bergi, T. infestans, L. variegatus (all of them one-hour hydrolysis) and finally Apis mellifera (2 h hydrolysis). The presence of secondary peaks at the descending branch of the hydrolysis curves of grasshopper and sea-urchin spermatozoa, indicates for these, more than 1 kind of apurinic-acid protein complexes. The spermatozoa bearing arginine-and/or cystine-rich nuclear protein contain a more easily soluble apurinic acid protein complex. Due to the differences in hydrolysis kinetics of chromatin in spermatozoa containing different nuclear "germinative" proteins, this cellular type does not appear indicated as a haploid control for evaluation of Feulgen-DNA contents of diploid and polyploid somatic cells.

Methylation of DNA and protamine by methyl methanesulfonate in the germ cells of male mice

The molecular dosimetry of methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) in the germ cells of male mice has been investigated. The mice were injected i.p. with 100 mg/kg of [3H]MMS and methylations per sperm head, per deoxynucleotide, and per unit of protamine were then determined over a 3-week period. The methylations per sperm head paralleled the dominant lethal frequency curve for MMS, reaching a maximum of between 22 and 26 million methylations per vas sperm head 8-11 days after treatment. Methylation of sperm DNA was greatest at 4 h (the earliest time point studied) after treatment, with 16.6 methylations/10(5) deoxynucleotides. DNA methylation gradually decreased during the subsequent 3-week period. The methylation of germ-cell DNA did not increase in the stages most sensitive to MMS (late spermatids leads to early spermatozoa) and was not correlated with the dominant lethal frequency curve for MMS. However, methylation of protamine did increase in the germ-cell stages most sensitive to MMS, and showed an excellent correlation with the incidence of dominant lethals produced by MMS in the different germ-cell stages. The pattern of alkylation produced by MMS in the developing germ-cell stages of the mouse is similar to that found for EMS. However, for equimolar exposures, MMS alkylates the germ cells 5-7 times more than does EMS. Hydrolyzed samples of protamine from [3H]MMS-exposed animals were subjected to thin-layer chromatography and amino acid analysis. Both procedures showed that most of the labeled material recovered from the hydrolysates co-chromatographed with authentic standards of S-methyl-L-cysteine. The amino acid analyses showed an average of approximately 80% of the labeled material eluting with S-methyl-L-cysteine. The mechanism of action of both MMS and EMS on the developing germ cells appears to be similar. The occurrence of S-methyl-L-cysteine as the major reaction product in sperm protamine after MMS exposure supports our initial model of how dominant lethals are induced in mouse germ cells by these chemicals: Alkylation of cysteine sulfhydryl groups contained in mouse-sperm protamine blocks normal disulfide-bond formation, preventing proper chromatin condensation in the sperm nucleus. Subsequent stresses produced in the chromatin structure eventually lead to chromosome breakage, with resultant dominant lethality.

On the immortality of the germ line: genetic and biochemical mechanism. A review

The nature of the differences between mortal somatic cells and immortal germ cell lines constitutes a major area of theoretical gerontology which has not yet received adequate attention. Weismann's theory, first stated almost exactly a century ago, was recently reconsidered by Kirkwood and Holliday. They applied modern concepts and findings on the factors regulating the accuracy of synthesis of macromolecules to explain germ line immortality. In the present paper, evidence on ageing of reproductive cells and the relationship of cytomorphogenetic events to periodic rejuvenation of germ cell lines is summarized and evaluated. Key events include the elimination or reversal of some DNA changes in germ cells through recombination and meiotic haploidization, cyclic regeneration of transcriptional and translational systems during gametogenesis and early development, and the selection of stable, viable genomes at various stages of the reproductive cycle. These rejuvenatory processes are compared and related to molecular events which differentiated somatic cells are unable to carry out.

Comparative analysis of the nuclear basic proteins in rat, human, guinea pig, mouse and rabbit spermatozoa

Cysteine-rich protamines (Arg = 47-61%, Cys = 8-16%) were isolated from the sperm of an individual guinea pig, human and rabbit and from pooled samples of mouse and rat sperm. Appreciable concentrations of histones were not found in the sperm nuclei of these species. In addition to the protamines, a substance of relatively low molecular weight, which reacted with the Lowry reagent, appeared in crude acid-soluble extracts of sperm nucleoprotein. This unidentified contaminent was resolved from the protamines by chromatography on Bio-Rex 70. Heterogeneity of human and mouse protamines was revealed by electrophoresis at pH 2.7, in the presence of 2.5 M urea, and confirmed by amino acid analysis, which also suggested the presence of 2 or more species of protamine in the rabbit. By contrast, the guinea pig and rat preparations displayed nearly stoichiometric ratios of amino acid residues, approaching homogeneity by this criterion. The functional consequences of crosslinks between cysteine residues of these proteins and the possible species-specific significance of their differing percentages of histidine are discussed. Potentially analogous functions are suggested for phosphorylated serine and threonine, and for ionized cysteine and tyrosine, within the protamines of developing spermatids. Their amino acid compositions indicate that the protamines of eutherian mammals are coded by a C.G-rich genome which has been unusually susceptible to genetic drift. An especially high rate of G leads to A transitions seems to have occurred in the human protamine genes.

A study of DNA depolymerisation during Feulgen acid hydrolysis

The binding of Schiff dye molecules after acid hydrolysis (1 M HCl) for varying lengths of time was studied in ascites tumour cells. The amount of dye bound to the tumour cells closely followed the number of aldehyde groups, calculated from the extraction of radioactive nucleotides. This constant dye to aldehyde ratio did not change when the hydrolysis was performed at a lower acid concentration (0.3 M HCl). The conclusion drawn is that Feulgen dye measurements represent, in a constant way, the number of aldehydes on DNA at any given time during hydrolysis. The alteration of the hydrolysis pattern of chromatin fixed in formalin was found to be due to a slower extraction of DNA depolymerisation products, the purine liberation being unaffected. A similar explanation is offered for the extreme pattern obtained from hydrolysis of bull spermatozoa chromatin.

Isolation and characterization of chromatin from Neurospora crassa

Different preparations of chromatin isolated from mycelia of Neurospora crassa were analyzed for DNA-associated RNA and proteins. The UV absorption spectra, the ultrastructure of chromatin, and the amino acid composition of the acid-extractable proteins were studied. The protein:DNA ratios range from 1.5 to 2.8; the RNA:DNA ratios range from 0.5 to 1.24. UV absorption shows a macimum at 259 mmicro and a minimum at 238-239 mmicro. The E280/E260 ranges from 0.59 to 0.70. Electron microscopy reveals a fibrous structure with individual fibers of 120-150 A average diameter. Attempts were made to study the protein by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and amino acid analysis. The results indicate that Neurospora chromatin does not contain basic proteins comparable to calf thymus histone. The ratios of basic to acidic amino acids range from 0.93 to 1.19. On electrophoresis, no bands are seen whose positions correspond to those of histones. Staining for basic proteins with fast green or eosin Y at pH 8.2 also shows a negative reaction, suggesting the absence of histones.