Mammalian spermiogenesis is of considerable biological interest especially due to the unique chromatin remodeling events that take place during spermatid maturation. Here, we have studied the expression of chromatin remodeling factors in different spermatogenic stages and narrowed it down to bromodomain, testis-specific (Brdt) as a key molecule participating in chromatin remodeling during rat s...

In recent years, the field of male-mediated reproductive toxicology has received growing attention. It is now well-established that many drugs, chemicals, and environmental factors can harm male germ cells by inducing DNA damage. Male germ cells have extensive repair mechanisms that allow detection and repair of damaged DNA during the early phases of spermatogenesis. However, during the later p...

Y-box proteins bind DNA and RNA and are characterized by a cold shock domain and a carboxyl-terminus containing clusters of aromatic and basic residues that alternate with clusters of acidic residues. Y-box proteins 1 and 3 in mouse testis were cloned here by 3' rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) using a degenerate primer. Northern blots and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction ...

During the last phase of spermatogenesis, spermiogenesis, haploid round spermatids metamorphose towards spermatozoa. Extensive cytoplasmic reduction and chromatin remodelling together allow a dramatic decrease of cellular, notably nuclear volume. DNA packing by a nucleosome based chromatin structure is largely replaced by a protamine based one. At the cytoplasmic level among others the acrosome...

The continuous production of mammalian sperm is maintained by the proliferation and differentiation of spermatogonial stem cells, which originate from primordial germ cells in the early embryo. Previously, we reported that the transplantation of fetal male gonadal tissue into the recipient testis was effective obtaining functional sperm. This transplantation technique is a promising new approac...

The Tudor domain-containing proteins (TDRDs) are an evolutionarily conserved family of proteins involved in germ cell development. We show here that in mice, TDRD5 is a novel component of the intermitochondrial cements (IMCs) and the chromatoid bodies (CBs), which are cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein granules involved in RNA processing for spermatogenesis. Tdrd5-deficient males are sterile because...

Spermatogenesis is a process that involves an array of cellular and biochemical events, collectively culminating in the formation of haploid spermatids from diploid precursor cells known as spermatogonia. As germ cells differentiate from spermatogonia into elongated spermatids, they also progressively migrate across the entire length of the seminiferous epithelium until they reach the luminal e...

We recently used three XO male mouse models with varying Y short-arm (Yp) gene complements, analysed at 30 days post partum, to demonstrate a Yp gene requirement for the apoptotic elimination of spermatocytes with a univalent X chromosome at the first meiotic metaphase. The three mouse models were i) XSxr(a)O in which the Yp-derived Tp(Y)1Ct(Sxr-a) sex reversal factor provides an almost complet...

A small nuclear RING finger protein, termed SNURF (or RNF4), is a coregulator of androgen receptor-dependent transcription. To elucidate the physiological role of SNURF in vivo, cell type-specific localization and changes in SNURF mRNA and protein accumulation were followed during testicular development and spermatogenesis of the rat. Two SNURF transcripts, approximately 3.0 and 1.6 kb in size,...

In the male reproductive organs of mammals, the formation of spermatozoa takes place during two successive phases: differentiation (in the testis) and maturation (in the epididymis). The first phase, spermiogenesis, relies on a unique adherens junction, the apical ectoplasmic specialization linking the epithelial Sertoli cells to immature differentiating spermatids. Vezatin is a transmembrane p...