Cysteine-rich secretory protein 3 inhibits hepatitis C virus at the initial phase of infection

Semen Protein CRISP3 Promotes Reproductive Performance of Boars through Immunomodulation

Semen proteins play an important role in male reproductive performance and sperm fertilization ability and can be used as potential biomarkers to evaluate male fertility. The role of cysteine-rich secretory protein 3 (CRISP3) in male reproduction remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the role of CRISP3 in the reproductive performance of boars. Our results showed that the CRISP3 protein content was significantly and positively correlated with boar fertility, sow delivery rate, and litter size. CRISP3 is highly expressed in the bulbourethral gland of adult boars and is enriched in the seminal plasma. It is localized in the post-acrosomal region of the sperm head and migrates to the anterior end of the tail after capacitation. The CRISP3 recombinant protein did not affect sperm motility and cleavage rate, but it significantly downregulated the mRNA expression of inflammatory factors IL-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 and the protein expression of IL-α and IL-6 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells, indicating that CRISP3 has an immunomodulatory function. In conclusion, our study suggests that semen CRISP3 protein levels positively correlate with reproductive performance, which may be achieved by regulating immune responses in the female reproductive tract.

Cysteine-rich secretory protein 3 plays a role in prostate cancer cell invasion and affects expression of PSA and ANXA1

Cysteine-rich secretory protein 3 (CRISP-3) is upregulated in prostate cancer as compared to the normal prostate tissue. Higher expression of CRISP-3 has been linked to poor prognosis and hence it has been thought to act as a prognostic marker for prostate cancer. It is proposed to have a role in innate immunity but its role in prostate cancer is still unknown. In order to understand its function, its expression was stably knocked down in LNCaP cells. CRISP-3 knockdown did not affect cell viability but resulted in reduced invasiveness. Global gene expression changes upon CRISP-3 knockdown were identified by microarray analysis. Microarray data were quantitatively validated by evaluating the expression of seven candidate genes in three independent stable clones. Functional annotation of the differentially expressed genes identified cell adhesion, cell motility, and ion transport to be affected among other biological processes. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA, also known as Kallikrein 3) was the top most downregulated gene whose expression was also validated at protein level. Interestingly, expression of Annexin A1 (ANXA1), a known anti-inflammatory protein, was upregulated upon CRISP-3 knockdown. Re-introduction of CRISP-3 into the knockdown clone reversed the effect on invasiveness and also led to increased PSA expression. These results suggest that overexpression of CRISP-3 in prostate tumor may maintain higher PSA expression and lower ANXA1 expression. Our data also indicate that poor prognosis associated with higher CRISP-3 expression could be due to its role in cell invasion.