title: Isolation and characterization of a small putative zinc finger protein from cuttlefish epididymal sperm cells.
abstract: At the end of spermiogenesis, sperm chromatin stabilization is ensured by protamine dephosphorylation and, in mammals, by the formation during epididymal transit, of intra- and inter-molecular disulfide bridges between protamines. In cuttlefish, the nuclear protein transition histones-->spermatid-specific protein T-->protamine Sp is very similar to that occurring in mammals during spermiogenesis. However, in cuttlefish, the protamine Sp is devoid of cysteine residues. The protein complement of cuttlefish epididymal sperm nuclei has been investigated. A minor basic protein, called protein E, has been isolated. Its primary structure was established from sequence analysis and mass spectrometry data of the protein and its fragments. Protein E contains a motif -Cys-Xaa2-Cys-Xaa23-His-Cys-Xaa2-Cys- which is likely to adopt a zinc finger conformation. Reduced protein E does fix zinc whereas alkylation of cysteine residues abolishes this ability. The sequence of protein E does not correspond to that of any known protein, but presents some similarities with a part of ZFY protein, a putative human transcription factor specifically expressed in germinal cells and which could be involved in spermatogenesis.
authors.affiliation: URA 1309 CNRS, Institut Pasteur de Lille, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martin-Ponthieu
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wouters-Tyrou
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pudlo
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Buisine
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sautière
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004822:Epididymis; D005399:Fishes; D006801:Humans; D051741:Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012741:Sexual Maturation; D013093:Spermatogonia / Q000737:chemistry; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000737:chemistry*; D013737:Testis / Q000737:chemistry; D014157:Transcription Factors; D016335:Zinc Fingers
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D051741:Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011506:Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C054430:ZFY protein, human; C086245:protein E, cuttlefish