HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Data All Versions of this Article: fj.06-7035comv1 21/4/1013    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Roy, A. Articles by Matzuk, M. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Roy, A. Articles by Matzuk, M. M.

Absence of tektin 4 causes asthenozoospermia and subfertility in male mice

Angshumoy Roy^*,, Yi-Nan Lin^*,, Julio E. Agno^*, Francesco J. DeMayo and Martin M. Matzuk^*,,,1

Departments of
^* Pathology,

Molecular and Human Genetics, and

Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA

¹Correspondence: Department of Pathology, One Baylor Plaza, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. E-mail: mmatzuk{at}bcm.tmc.edu

Sperm flagellar motion is the outcome of a dynamic interplay between the axonemal cytoskeleton, the peri-axonemal accessory structures, and multiple regulatory networks that coordinate to produce flagellar beat and waveform. Tektins are conserved components of the flagellar proteome in evolutionarily diverse species and are believed to play essential roles in the mechanics of sperm motility. Using database mining, we identified multiple new paralogs of previously annotated tektins, including tektin 4 (TEKT4), which shares 77.1% identity with its nearest human homologue. Mouse Tekt4 is a germ cell-enriched gene, most abundantly expressed in haploid round spermatids in the testis, and the protein is localized to the sperm flagella. Male mice lacking TEKT4 on a 129S5/SvEvBrd inbred background are subfertile. Tekt4-null sperm exhibit drastically reduced forward progressive velocity and uncoordinated waveform propagation along the flagellum. In Tekt4-null sperm, flagellar ultrastructure is grossly unaltered as revealed by transmission electron microscopy. However, the ineffective flagellar strokes lead to 10-fold higher consumption of intracellular ATP in Tekt4-null sperm as compared to wild-type, and null spermatozoa rapidly lose progressive motility when incubated for 1.5 h. Our studies demonstrate that TEKT4 is necessary for the proper coordinated beating of the sperm flagellum and male reproductive physiology.—Roy, A., Lin, Y.-N., Agno, J. E., DeMayo, F. J., Matzuk, M. M. Absence of tektin 4 causes asthenozoospermia and subfertility in male mice.

Key Words: coiled-coil • axoneme • outer dense fiber • knockout mice

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. Zuccarello, A. Ferlin, A. Garolla, M. A. Pati, A. Moretti, C. Cazzadore, S. Francavilla, and C. Foresta A possible association of a human tektin-t gene mutation (A229V) with isolated non-syndromic asthenozoospermia: Case Report Hum. Reprod., April 1, 2008; 23(4): 996 - 1001. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K Faisal, V S Periasamy, S Sahabudeen, A Radha, R Anandhi, and M A Akbarsha Spermatotoxic effect of aflatoxin B1 in rat: extrusion of outer dense fibres and associated axonemal microtubule doublets of sperm flagellum Reproduction, March 1, 2008; 135(3): 303 - 310. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]