title: Gene expression pattern of KIFC3 during spermatogenesis of the skink Eumeces chinensis.
abstract: Kinesin superfamily is a class of microtubule-dependent motors that play crucial roles in acrosome biogenesis, nuclear reshaping and flagellum formation during spermiogenesis. We have cloned kinesin-like gene kifc3 (termed ec-kifc3) from the total RNA of the testis of the skink Eumeces chinensis. The cDNA sequence of ec-kifc3 had a full-length of 3033bp, including a 260bp 5'-untranslated region (5'UTR), a 445bp 3'-untranslated region (3'UTR) and an open reading frame that encoded a 775-amino-acid protein. Additionally, the calculated molecular weight of the putative ec-KIFC3 was 87kDa and its estimated isoelectric point was 6.18. Structurally, the putative ec-KIFC3 had three domains: head domain, neck domain and tail domain. Protein alignment demonstrated that ec-KIFC3 had 47.2%, 67.8%, 68.8%, 69.3% and 76.8% identity with its homologues in Xenopus laevis, Mus musculus, Cricetulus griseus, Homo sapiens, and Gallus gallus. The phylogenetic analysis showed that ec-KIFC3 was more related to KIFC3 in vertebrates than invertebrates. Tissue expression results showed the presence of ec-KIFC3 in various tissues with its highest expression in the testis. In situ hybridization demonstrated that ec-KIFC3 mRNA was distributed around the nucleus in early and middle stage spermatids and expressed in the nucleus in the elongating spermatids during spermiogenesis. Besides, the ec-KIFC3 mRNA was expressed in the acrosome of the developmental spermatids. From the results of in situ hybridization and previous researches, we speculated that ec-KIFC3 may play a role in nuclear morphogenesis and acrosome formation during spermiogenesis of E. chinensis.
authors.affiliation: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, PR China.
authors.forename: Jian-Rao
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, PR China; The Sperm Laboratory, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: The Sperm Laboratory, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Cong-Cong
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: The Sperm Laboratory, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhen-Yu
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: She
authors.affiliation: The Sperm Laboratory, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China.
authors.forename: Da-Hui
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, PR China.
authors.forename: Shuang-Li
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, PR China.
authors.forename: Yong-Pu
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: The Sperm Laboratory, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, PR China. Electronic address: wxyang@spermlab.org.
authors.forename: Wan-Xi
authors.initials: WX
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D016547:Kinesins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008116:Lizards / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D030162:Reptilian Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D030162:Reptilian Proteins; D016547:Kinesins
keywords: Acrosome formation; Eumeces chinensis; Nuclear shaping; Spermatogenesis; Spermiogenesis; ec-KIFC3