title: Mitochondrial ferritin deficiency reduces male fertility in mice.
abstract: Mitochondrial ferritin (FtMt) is a functional ferritin targeted to mitochondria that is highly expressed in the testis. To investigate the role of FtMt in the testis we set up a series of controlled matings between FtMt gene-deletion mice (FtMt-/-) with FtMt+/+mice. We found that the number of newborns per litter and the fertility rate were strongly reduced for the FtMt-/-males, but not for the females, indicating that FtMt has an important role for male fertility. The morphology of the testis and of the spermatozoa of FtMt-/-mice was normal and we did not detect alterations in sperm parameters or in oxidative stress indices. In contrast, we observed that the cauda epididymides of FtMt-/-mice were significantly lighter and contained a lower number of spermatozoa compared with the controls. Also, the ATP content of FtMt-/-spermatozoa was found to be lower than that of FtMt+/+spermatozoa. These data show that FtMt contributes to sperm epididymis maturation and to male fertility.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine DMMT, University of Brescia, Viale Europa 11, 25123 Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maccarinelli
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine DMMT, University of Brescia, Viale Europa 11, 25123 Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Regoni
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine DMMT, University of Brescia, Viale Europa 11, 25123 Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carmona
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine DMMT, University of Brescia, Viale Europa 11, 25123 Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Maura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Poli
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine DMMT, University of Brescia, Viale Europa 11, 25123 Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Esther G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Meyron-Holtz
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine DMMT, University of Brescia, Viale Europa 11, 25123 Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arosio
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005293:Ferritins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005298:Fertility / Q000235:genetics*; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000235:genetics; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000235:genetics; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D005293:Ferritins