| First Author | Li W | Year | 2015 |
| Journal | Sci Rep | Volume | 5 |
| Pages | 16506 | PubMed ID | 26585507 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:288360 | Mgi Id | MGI:6219093 |
| Doi | 10.1038/srep16506 | Citation | Li W, et al. (2015) Sperm Associated Antigen 6 (SPAG6) Regulates Fibroblast Cell Growth, Morphology, Migration and Ciliogenesis. Sci Rep 5:16506 |
| abstractText | Mammalian Spag6 is the orthologue of Chlamydomonas PF16, which encodes a protein localized in the axoneme central apparatus, and regulates flagella/cilia motility. Most Spag6-deficient mice are smaller in size than their littermates. Because SPAG6 decorates microtubules, we hypothesized that SPAG6 has other roles related to microtubule function besides regulating flagellar/cilia motility. Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were isolated from Spag6-deficient and wild-type embryos for these studies. Both primary and immortalized Spag6-deficient MEFs proliferated at a much slower rate than the wild-type MEFs, and they had a larger surface area. Re-expression of SPAG6 in the Spag6-deficient MEFs rescued the abnormal cell morphology. Spag6-deficient MEFs were less motile than wild-type MEFs, as shown by both chemotactic analysis and wound-healing assays. Spag6-deficient MEFs also showed reduced adhesion associated with a non-polarized F-actin distribution. Multiple centrosomes were observed in the Spag6-deficient MEF cultures. The percentage of cells with primary cilia was significantly reduced compared to the wild-type MEFs, and some Spag6-deficient MEFs developed multiple cilia. Furthermore, SPAG6 selectively increased expression of acetylated tubulin, a microtubule stability marker. The Spag6-deficient MEFs were more sensitive to paclitaxel, a microtubule stabilizer. Our studies reveal new roles for SPAG6 in modulation of cell morphology, proliferation, migration, and ciliogenesis. |