title: Patterns of expression of sperm flagellar genes: early expression of genes encoding axonemal proteins during the spermatogenic cycle and shared features of promoters of genes encoding central apparatus proteins.
abstract: Sperm are motile cells. Thus, a significant component of the spermatogenic cycle is devoted to the formation of flagellum, a process that must be coordinated to insure proper construction. To document the temporal pattern of flagellar gene expression, we employed real-time PCR to assess changes in accumulation of a cohort of genes encoding axoneme, outer dense fibre (ODF) and fibrous sheath (FS) proteins during the first wave of spermatogenesis in the mouse. Axoneme genes were expressed first at the pachytene spermatocyte stage, followed by expression of transcripts encoding ODF and FS components. However, there were differences among these families with respect to the time of initial expression and the rate of mRNA accumulation. To gain understanding of factors that determine these patterns of expression, we cloned the promoters of three axoneme central apparatus genes (Pf6, Spag6 and Pf20). These promoters shared common features including the absence of a TATA box, and putative binding sites for several factors implicated in spermatogenesis (CREB/CREM, SOX17 and SPZ1) as well as ciliogenesis (FOXJ1). Collectively, our findings demonstrate a sequential pattern of expression of flagellar component genes, differential times of expression or rates of transcript accumulation within each class and shared promoter features within a class.
authors.affiliation: Center for Research on Reproduction and Women's Health, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Eran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Horowitz
authors.forename: Zhibing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Brian H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Stuart B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Moss
authors.forename: Clement
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Jennifer R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Xingmei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Mary D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Sammel
authors.forename: Jerome F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Strauss
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008868:Microtubule Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000235:genetics*; D013082:Sperm Tail / Q000378:metabolism; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D008868:Microtubule Proteins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; C491467:PF20 protein, mouse; C504273:PF6 protein, mouse; C504274:SPAG6 protein, mouse