title: Abnormal spermatogenesis and male infertility in testicular zinc finger protein Zfp318-knockout mice.
abstract: Zfp318, a mouse gene with a Cys2/His2 zinc finger motif, is mainly expressed in germ cells in the testis. It encodes two alternative transcripts, which regulate androgen receptor-mediated transcriptional activation or repression by overexpression of them. However, the role of Zfp318 is still obscure in vivo, especially in spermatogenesis. To elucidate the role of Zfp318 during gamete production, we established a knockout mouse line. Zfp318-null male mice exhibited infertility, whereas Zfp318-null female mice displayed normal fertility. ZFP318 was expressed during multiple stages of spermatogenesis, from spermatocytes to round spermatids. The nuclei of secondary spermatocytes showed high levels of expression. Histological analysis and quantitative analysis of DNA content showed decreased numbers of both spermatids in the seminiferous tubules and mature spermatozoa in the epididymides of Zfp318-null mice. These results suggest that Zfp318 is expressed as a functional protein in testicular germ cells and plays an important role in meiosis during spermatogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Masamichi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishizuka
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Eri
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ohtsuka
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsuto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Mirei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Odaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirotaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohshima
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Norihisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Center, Toin University of Yokohama, Yokohama, 225-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Toin University of Yokohama, Yokohama, 225-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Norihisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sako
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan.
authors.forename: Shin-Ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kashiwabara
authors.affiliation: Genome Information Research Center, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okabe
authors.affiliation: Germ Cell Conservation Laboratory, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Ibaraki, 305-8602, Japan.
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan. hagiwara@toin.ac.jp.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, Toin University of Yokohama, Yokohama, 225-8503, Japan. hagiwara@toin.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hagiwara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008540:Meiosis / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D012671:Seminiferous Tubules / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000378:metabolism; D013087:Spermatids / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D013090:Spermatocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D016335:Zinc Fingers
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C000613828:Zfp318 protein, mouse
keywords: male infertility; sperm count; spermatogenesis; testis; zinc finger