| First Author | Dupuis S | Year | 2024 |
| Journal | Cell Mol Biol Lett | Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 74 |
| PubMed ID | 38750428 | Mgi Jnum | J:354514 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:7734618 | Doi | 10.1186/s11658-024-00587-5 |
| Citation | Dupuis S, et al. (2024) The lack of Tex44 causes severe subfertility with flagellar abnormalities in male mice. Cell Mol Biol Lett 29(1):74 |
| abstractText | By analyzing a mouse Interspecific Recombinant Congenic Strain (IRCS), we previously identified a quantitative trait locus (QTL), called Mafq1 on mouse chromosome 1, that is associated with male hypofertility and ultrastructural sperm abnormalities. Within this locus, we identified a new candidate gene that could be implicated in a reproductive phenotype: Tex44 (Testis-expressed protein 44). We thus performed a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated complete deletion of this gene in mice in order to study its function. Tex44-KO males were severely hypofertile in vivo and in vitro due to a drastic reduction of sperm motility which itself resulted from important morphological sperm abnormalities. Namely, Tex44-KO sperm showed a disorganized junction between the midpiece and the principal piece of the flagellum, leading to a 180 degrees flagellar bending in this region. In addition, the loss of some axonemal microtubule doublets and outer dense fibers in the flagellum's principal piece has been observed. Our results suggest that, in mice, TEX44 is implicated in the correct set-up of the sperm flagellum during spermiogenesis and its absence leads to flagellar abnormalities and consequently to severe male hypofertility. |
