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Merges GE, Meier J, Schneider S, Kruse A, Fröbius AC, Kirfel G, Steger K, Arévalo L, Schorle H. Loss of Prm1 leads to defective chromatin protamination, impaired PRM2 processing, reduced sperm motility and subfertility in male mice. Development 2022; 149:275502. [PMID: 35608054 PMCID: PMC9270976 DOI: 10.1242/dev.200330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gina Esther Merges
- Department of Developmental Pathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
| | - Julia Meier
- Department of Developmental Pathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
| | - Simon Schneider
- Department of Developmental Pathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
| | - Alexander Kruse
- Department of Urology, Pediatric Urology and Andrology, Section Molecular Andrology, Biomedical Research Center of the Justus-Liebig University, 35392 Giessen, Germany
| | - Andreas Christian Fröbius
- Department of Urology, Pediatric Urology and Andrology, Section Molecular Andrology, Biomedical Research Center of the Justus-Liebig University, 35392 Giessen, Germany
| | - Gregor Kirfel
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute for Cell Biology, University of Bonn, 53121 Bonn, Germany
| | - Klaus Steger
- Department of Urology, Pediatric Urology and Andrology, Section Molecular Andrology, Biomedical Research Center of the Justus-Liebig University, 35392 Giessen, Germany
| | - Lena Arévalo
- Department of Developmental Pathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
| | - Hubert Schorle
- Department of Developmental Pathology, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
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Fröbius AC, Kanost MR, Götz P, Vilcinskas A. Isolation and characterization of novel inducible serine protease inhibitors from larval hemolymph of the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella. Eur J Biochem 2000; 267:2046-53. [PMID: 10727944 DOI: 10.1046/j.1432-1327.2000.01207.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Three inducible serine protease inhibitors (ISPI-1, 2, 3) have been purified from larval hemolymph of greater wax moth larvae, Galleria mellonella, and characterized at a molecular level. These inhibitors were synthesized after larvae were injected with a yeast polysaccharide, zymosan preparation. ISPI-1,2,3 were active against various serine proteases including trypsin and toxic proteases released by the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae. Precipitation by trichloroacetic acid and heat, followed by FPLC and HPLC separation steps were used for purification of the protease inhibitors from cell-free hemolymph samples. The molecular masses of purified proteins were determined by MS to be 9.2 kDa (ISPI-1), 6.3 kDa (ISPI-2) and 8.2 kDa (ISPI-3) with isoelectric points ranging between 7.2 and 8.3. The N-terminal amino-acid sequences of ISPI-1 and ISPI-3 are not similar to other known proteins, whereas that of ISPI-2 exhibits extensive similarity to known Kunitz-type protease inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- A C Fröbius
- Institute of Zoology, Free University of Berlin, Germany.
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