| First Author | Zhu GZ | Year | 2009 |
| Journal | Mol Reprod Dev | Volume | 76 |
| Issue | 11 | Pages | 1106-14 |
| PubMed ID | 19670298 | Mgi Jnum | J:157046 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4429778 | Doi | 10.1002/mrd.21076 |
| Citation | Zhu GZ, et al. (2009) Testase 1 (ADAM 24) a sperm surface metalloprotease is required for normal fertility in mice. Mol Reprod Dev 76(11):1106-14 |
| abstractText | ADAM family members play important roles in various physiological and pathological processes, for example, fertilization, embryogenesis, neurogenesis, and development of asthma and arthritis (Primakoff and Myles, 2000. Trends Genet 16: 83-87; Edwards et al., 2008. Mol Aspects Med 29: 258-289). We previously reported that testase 1 (ADAM 24) is the first identified metalloprotease present on the surface of mature sperm. To investigate a potential role of testase 1 in fertilization, we generated testase 1 deficient mice. Testase 1 null male mice showed reduced fertility, producing only half the number of offspring when compared to wild-type littermates. In a standard in vitro fertilization assay, we found that sperm lacking testase 1 gave rise to polyspermic fertilization, a phenotypic feature that might contribute to failure of normal embryo development due to polyaneuploidy. Furthermore, in vivo, we found that testase 1 null males produced a higher number of polyspermic embryos at the pronuclear stage. These findings suggest that testase 1 is a sperm plasma membrane component which contributes to the prevention of polyspermy at the level of the oocyte plasma membrane. |
