| First Author | Chung JJ | Year | 2011 |
| Journal | Nat Commun | Volume | 2 |
| Pages | 153 | PubMed ID | 21224844 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:182472 | Mgi Id | MGI:5315675 |
| Doi | 10.1038/ncomms1153 | Citation | Chung JJ, et al. (2011) A novel gene required for male fertility and functional CATSPER channel formation in spermatozoa. Nat Commun 2:153 |
| abstractText | Calcium signalling is critical for successful fertilization. In spermatozoa, capacitation, hyperactivation of motility and the acrosome reaction are all mediated by increases in intracellular Ca(2+). Cation channels of sperm proteins (CATSPERS1-4) form an alkalinization-activated Ca(2+)-selective channel required for the hyperactivated motility of spermatozoa and male fertility. Each of the CatSper1-4 genes encodes a subunit of a tetramer surrounding a Ca(2+)-selective pore, in analogy with other six-transmembrane ion channel alpha subunits. In addition to the pore-forming proteins, the sperm Ca(2+) channel contains auxiliary subunits, CATSPERbeta and CATSPERgamma. Here, we identify the Tmem146 gene product as a novel subunit, CATSPERdelta, required for CATSPER channel function. We find that mice lacking the sperm tail-specific CATSPERdelta are infertile and their spermatozoa lack both Ca(2+) current and hyperactivated motility. We show that CATSPERdelta is an essential element of the CATSPER channel complex and propose that CATSPERdelta is required for proper CATSPER channel assembly and/or transport. |
