Skip Navigation


Mol. Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on September 29, 2006
Molecular Human Reproduction 2006 12(11):703-716; doi:10.1093/molehr/gal079
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrowOA All Versions of this Article:
12/11/703    most recent
gal079v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Westbrook, V.A.
Right arrow Articles by Herr, J.C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Westbrook, V.A.
Right arrow Articles by Herr, J.C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Hominoid-specific SPANXA/D genes demonstrate differential expression in individuals and protein localization to a distinct nuclear envelope domain during spermatid morphogenesis

V.A. Westbrook1,2, P.D. Schoppee1, G.R. Vanage1,3, K.L. Klotz1, A.B. Diekman1,4, C.J. Flickinger1, M.A. Coppola1 and J.C. Herr1,5

1Department of Cell Biology, Center for Research in Contraceptive and Reproductive Health, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

2 Present address: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia, Box 800733, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA

3 Present address: Institute for Research in Reproduction, Mumbai, India

4 Present address: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham Street, Slot 516, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA

5 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Cell Biology, Center for Research in Contraceptive and Reproductive Health, University of Virginia, Box 800732, 1300 Jefferson Park Avenue, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. E-mail: jch7k{at}virginia.edu

Human sperm protein associated with the nucleus on the X chromosome consists of a five-member gene family (SPANXA1, SPANXA2, SPANXB, SPANXC and SPANXD) clustered at Xq27.1. Evolved from an ancestral SPANX-N gene family (at Xq27 and Xp11) present in all primates as well as in rats and mice, the SPANXA/D family is present only in humans, bonobos, chimpanzees and gorillas. Among hominoid-specific genes, the SPANXA/D gene family is considered to be undergoing rapid positive selection in its coding region. In this study, RT–PCR of human testis mRNA from individuals showed that, although all SPANXA/D genes are expressed in humans, differences are evident. In particular, SPANXC is expressed only in a subset of men. The SPANXa/d protein localized to the nuclear envelope of round, condensing and elongating spermatids, specifically to regions that do not underlie the developing acrosome. During spermiogenesis, the SPANXa/d-positive domain migrated into the base of the head as the redundant nuclear envelope that protrudes into the residual cytoplasm. Post-testicular modification of the SPANXa/d proteins was noted, as were PEST (proline, glutamic acid, serine, and threonine rich regions) domains. It is concluded that the duplication of the SPANX-N gene family that occurred 6–11 MYA resulted in a new gene family, SPANXA/D, that plays a role during spermiogenesis. The SPANXa/d gene products are among the few examples of X-linked nuclear proteins expressed following meiosis. Their localization to non-acrosomal domains of the nuclear envelope adjacent to regions of euchromatin and their redistribution to the redundant nuclear envelope during spermiogenesis provide a biomarker for the redundant nuclear envelope of spermatids and spermatozoa.

Key words: cancer/hominoids/spermatozoa/spermiogenesis/testis


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Clin. Cancer Res.Home page
G. Almanzar, P. B. Olkhanud, M. Bodogai, C. Dell'Agnola, D. Baatar, S. M. Hewitt, C. Ghimenton, M. K. Tummala, A. T. Weeraratna, K. S. Hoek, et al.
Sperm-Derived SPANX-B Is a Clinically Relevant Tumor Antigen That Is Expressed in Human Tumors and Readily Recognized by Human CD4+ and CD8+ T Cells
Clin. Cancer Res., March 15, 2009; 15(6): 1954 - 1963.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.