title: Stage-specific expression of ankyrin and SOCS box protein-4 (Asb-4) during spermatogenesis.
abstract: Members of the large family of Asb proteins are ubiquitously expressed in mammalian tissues; however, the roles of individual Asb and their function in the developmental testes have not been reported. In this report, we isolated a murine Asb4 from mouse testis. Northern blot analysis revealed that mAsb-4 was expressed only in testes and produced in a stage-specific manner during spermatogenesis. It was expressed in murine testes beginning in the fourth week after birth and extending into adulthood. Pachytene spermatocytes had the highest level of expression. Interestingly, the human homologue of mAsb-4, ASB-4 (hASB-4) was also expressed in human testis. These results suggest that ASB-4 plays pivotal roles in mammalian testis development and spermatogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo-Kyoung
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Si Youn
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Rhim
authors.forename: Man Ryul
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jong Soo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyung Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dong Ryul
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kye-Seong
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D050826:Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C530435:Asb4 protein, mouse; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D050826:Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling Proteins