Protrusion of the lamellipod in the crawling sperm of Ascaris is tightly coupled to the localized vectorial assembly and bundling of the major sperm protein cytoskeleton. In cell-free extracts of sperm, vesicles derived from the leading edge membrane reconstitute protrusion by directing the assembly of columnar meshworks of major sperm protein filaments that push the vesicle forward as they elo...

Background: Rab proteins are GTP-dependent small that function as regulators of intracellular vesicle transport, fusion, and localization. However, few studies have investigated their in Decapoda reproduction. The Eriocheir sinensis sperm has no tail the nuclei uncondensed. With acrosome forming majority mass, it provides an ideal model for studying formation. Methods: We firstly analyzed prote...

BACKGROUND Alterations at the molecular level in spermatozoa and seminal plasma can affect male fertility. The objective of this study was to determine if analysis of differential expression of proteins in varying semen parameters can serve as potential biomarkers for male infertility. METHODS The differential expression of proteins in the seminal plasma of men based on sperm count and morpho...

Soluble N-ethylmalameide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins are present in mammalian sperm and could be involved in critical membrane fusion events during fertilization, namely the acrosome reaction. Vesicle-associated membrane protein/synaptobrevin, a SNARE on the membrane of a vesicular carrier, and syntaxin 1, a SNARE on the target membrane, as well as the calcium ...

FOG-3, the single Caenorhabditis elegans Tob/BTG protein, directs germ cells to adopt the sperm fate at the expense of oogenesis. Importantly, FOG-3 activity must be maintained for the continued production of sperm that is typical of the male sex. Vertebrate Tob proteins have antiproliferative activity and ERK phosphorylation of Tob proteins has been proposed to abrogate "antiproliferative" act...

Spermatozoa are highly specialized cells that can be easily obtained and purified. Mature spermatozoa are transcriptionally and translationally inactive and incapable of protein synthesis. In addition, spermatozoa contain relatively higher amounts of membrane proteins compared to other cells; therefore, they are very suitable for proteomic studies. Recently, the application of proteomic approac...

In most animals, the bulk of sperm DNA is packaged with sperm nuclear basic proteins (SNBPs), a diverse group of highly basic chromosomal proteins notably comprising mammalian protamines. The replacement of histones with SNBPs during spermiogenesis allows sperm DNA to reach an extreme level of compaction, but little is known about how SNBPs actually function in vivo Mst77F is a Drosophila SNBP ...

Proteins expressed on the surface of sperm and egg mediate gametic compatibility and these proteins can be subject to intense positive selection. In this review, we discuss what is known about the patterns of adaptive evolution of gamete recognition proteins (GRPs). We focus on species that broadcast eggs and sperm into the environment for external fertilization, as the ease of observing and ma...

Syntaxins are membrane integrated Q-SNARE proteins known to participate in exocytosis. Vesicle docking involves the binding of two plasma membrane proteins, syntaxin and SNAP-25, to the vesicle membrane protein VAMP to form a stable trimeric core complex; synaptophysin is thought to regulate the formation of this complex. Although the members of Q-SNARE proteins are characterized in somatic cel...

Epididymal secreted proteins promote sperm maturation and fertilizing capacity by interacting with sperm during passage through the epididymis. Here we investigate the molecular basis of sperm maturation by isolating cDNA clones for novel epididymis-specific expressed sequences. Thirty-six novel cDNAs were isolated and sequenced from a subtracted Macaca mulatta epididymis library. The clones en...