title: BCAS2 is involved in alternative mRNA splicing in spermatogonia and the transition to meiosis.
abstract: Breast cancer amplified sequence 2 (BCAS2) is involved in multiple biological processes, including pre-mRNA splicing. However, the physiological roles of BCAS2 are still largely unclear. Here we report that BCAS2 is specifically enriched in spermatogonia of mouse testes. Conditional disruption of Bcas2 in male germ cells impairs spermatogenesis and leads to male mouse infertility. Although the spermatogonia appear grossly normal, spermatocytes in meiosis prophase I and meiosis events (recombination and synapsis) are rarely observed in the BCAS2-depleted testis. In BCAS2 null testis, 245 genes are altered in alternative splicing forms; at least three spermatogenesis-related genes (Dazl, Ehmt2 and Hmga1) can be verified. In addition, disruption of Bcas2 results in a significant decrease of the full-length form and an increase of the short form (lacking exon 8) of DAZL protein. Altogether, our results suggest that BCAS2 regulates alternative splicing in spermatogonia and the transition to meiosis initiation, and male fertility.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.|State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Wenbo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing 102206, China.
authors.forename: Fengchao
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Qianhua
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Junchao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Xukun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Zhen-Ao
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Huaixiao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Enkui
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
authors.forename: Shaorong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Urban Agriculture (North) of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Biological Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, China.
authors.forename: Zhaohong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5478-5681
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008540:Meiosis / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000502:physiology; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D013090:Spermatocytes / Q000502:physiology; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D013093:Spermatogonia / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: C000605455:BCAS2 protein, mouse; C508515:DAZL protein, mouse; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins