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1 June 2011 Immunolocalization of Spetex-1 at the Connecting Piece in Spermatozoa of the Musk Shrew (Suncus murinus)
Takane Kaneko, Shizuka Iwamoto, Emi Murayama, Hitoshi Kurio, Tetsuichiro Inai, Senichi Oda, Hiroshi Iida
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Abstract

Spetex-1, which has been isolated by differential display and rat cDNA library screening as a haploid spermatid-specific gene, encodes a protein with two coiled-coil motifs that locates at both the segmented column in the connecting piece and outer dense fibers-affiliated satellite fibrils in rat sperm flagella. Orthologs of Spetex-1 are identified in many animal species, including human, chimpanzee, macaque, cow, dog, African clawed frog, green spotted puffer, and zebrafish. In this study, we used RT-PCR in combination with 5′ and 3′ RACE (Rapid Amplification of cDNA End) technique to isolate Spetex-1 ortholog of the musk shrew (Suneus murinus), which yielded a full-length Suncus Spetex-1 gene containing an open reading frame of 1,908 base pairs encoding a protein of 636 amino acids with the predicted molecular mass of 72,348 Da. Suncus Spetex-1 has two coiled-coil motifs at 118–184 and 242–276 amino acid residues, which is a characteristic shared by mammalian Spetex-1 proteins. To examine the subcellular localization of Spetex-1 in Suncus spermatozoa, we produced the anti-Suncus Spetex-1 antibody and carried out immunocytochemistry. In spite of that the primary structure of Suncus Spetex-1 is basically similar to that of rat and mouse Spetex-1, confocal laser scanning microscopy and immunoelectron microscopy revealed that Spetex-1 was restricted to the segmented column and capitulum in the connecting piece of Suncus spermatozoa and was not detected in other parts of flagella, suggesting a diversity of Spetex-1 localization in mammalian spermatozoa.

© 2011 Zoological Society of Japan
Takane Kaneko, Shizuka Iwamoto, Emi Murayama, Hitoshi Kurio, Tetsuichiro Inai, Senichi Oda, and Hiroshi Iida "Immunolocalization of Spetex-1 at the Connecting Piece in Spermatozoa of the Musk Shrew (Suncus murinus)," Zoological Science 28(6), 444-452, (1 June 2011). https://doi.org/10.2108/zsj.28.444
Received: 2 August 2010; Accepted: 1 November 2010; Published: 1 June 2011
KEYWORDS
flagella
segmented column
spermatozoa
Spetex-1
Suncus murinus
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