title: H3K9ac involved in the decondensation of spermatozoal nuclei during spermatogenesis in Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis.
abstract: As a well-known crustacean model species, the Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis presents spermatozoa with decondensed DNA. Our aim was to analyze structural distribution of the histone H3 and its acetylated lysine 9 (H3K9ac) during spermatogenesis for the mechanistic understanding of the nuclear decondensation of the spermatozoa in E. sinensis. Using specific antibodies, we followed the structural distribution and acetylated lysine 9 of the histone H3 during spermatogenesis, especially spermiogenesis, of E. sinensis. Various spermary samples at different developmental stages were used for histological immunofluorescence and ultrastructural immunocytochemistry. Our results demonstrate a wide distribution of the histone H3 and H3K9ac during spermatogenesis, including spermatogonia, spermatocytes, spermatids, and immature and mature spermatozoa except for absence of H3K9ac in the secondary spermatocytes. Especially during the initial stage of nuclear decondensation, histone H3 lysine 9 was acetylated and then an amount of H3K9ac was removed from within to outside of the nuclei of late spermatids. The portion of remaining H3K9ac was gradually transferred from the nuclei during the stages of spermatozoa maturation. Our findings suggest both the acetylation of histone H3 lysine 9 and the remain of H3K9ac to contribute to the nuclear decondensation in spermatozoa of E. sinensis.
authors.affiliation: School of Basic Medical Sciences, Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, 533000, People's Republic of China. ligenliang@163.com.
authors.forename: Genliang
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6037-0458
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, 071002, People's Republic of China. xjkang@hbu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xianjiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, 071002, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shumei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, 071002, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Mingshen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: School of Basic Medical Sciences, Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, 533000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shiwen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, 071002, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qinna
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Basic Medical Sciences, Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, 533000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nong
authors.affiliation: School of Basic Medical Sciences, Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, 533000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaomin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Basic Medical Sciences, Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, 533000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hongliu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: School of Basic Medical Sciences, Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, 533000, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sun
keywords: Acetylation; Decondensed nuclei; Eriocheir sinensis; Histone H3; Spermatogenesis