title: Mutation of Eif4g3, encoding a eukaryotic translation initiation factor, causes male infertility and meiotic arrest of mouse spermatocytes.
abstract: The ENU-induced repro8 mutation was identified in a screen to uncover genes that control mouse gametogenesis. repro8 causes male-limited infertility, with failure of spermatocytes to exit meiotic prophase via the G2/MI transition. The repro8 mutation is in the Eif4g3 gene, encoding eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4, gamma 3. Mutant germ cells appear to execute events of meiotic prophase normally, and many proteins characteristic of the prophase-to-metaphase transition are not obviously depleted. However, activity of CDC2A (CDK1) kinase is dramatically reduced in mutant spermatocytes. Strikingly, HSPA2, a chaperone protein for CDC2A kinase, is absent in mutant spermatocytes in spite of the presence of Hspa2 transcript, consistent with the observation that the repro8 phenotype is markedly similar to the phenotype of the Hspa2 knockout. Thus, EIF4G3 is required for HSPA2 translation in spermatocytes, a finding that provides the first genetic evidence for selective translational control of meiotic exit in mammalian spermatocytes.
authors.affiliation: The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA.
authors.forename: Fengyun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: Mary Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Handel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D039603:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-4G / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008540:Meiosis / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D020297:Mice, Congenic; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D020125:Mutation, Missense / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D013090:Spermatocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: C549615:Eif4g3 protein, mouse; D039603:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-4G; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; C490434:Hspa2 protein, mouse