Drosophila sperm are unusual in that they do not require the intraflagellar transport (IFT) system for assembly of their flagella. In the mouse, the IFT proteins are very abundant in testis, but we here show that mature sperm are completely devoid of them, making the importance of IFT to mammalian sperm development unclear. To address this question, we characterized spermiogenesis and fertility in the Ift88(Tg737Rpw) mouse. This mouse has a hypomorphic mutation in the gene encoding the IFT88 subunit of the IFT particle. This mutation is highly disruptive to ciliary assembly in other organs. Ift88(-/-) mice are completely sterile. They produce ∼ 350-fold fewer sperm than wild-type mice, and the remaining sperm completely lack or have very short flagella. The short flagella rarely have axonemes but assemble ectopic microtubules and outer dense fibers and accumulate improperly assembled fibrous sheath proteins. Thus IFT is essential for the formation but not the maintenance of mammalian sperm flagella.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E15-08-0578 | DOI Listing |
Nat Commun
January 2025
Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life, TUD Dresden University of Technology, 01062, Dresden, Germany.
Cilia assembly and function rely on the bidirectional transport of components between the cell body and ciliary tip via Intraflagellar Transport (IFT) trains. Anterograde and retrograde IFT trains travel along the B- and A-tubules of microtubule doublets, respectively, ensuring smooth traffic flow. However, the mechanism underlying this segregation remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFG3 (Bethesda)
January 2025
Department of Neurobiology, School of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093.
The conserved MAP3K DLKs are widely known for their functions in synapse formation, axonal regeneration and degeneration, and neuronal survival, notably under traumatic injury and chronic disease conditions. In contrast, their roles in other neuronal compartments are much less explored. Through an unbiased forward genetic screening in C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Department of Biological Science, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, 04310, Republic of Korea.
Primary cilia are sensory organelles that regulate various signaling pathways. When microtubules are compared to a highway, motor proteins carry and transport cargo proteins, which are tuned by post-translational modifications, such as acetylation. However, the role of acetylation in primary cilia regulation remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Sci (Weinh)
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
The primary cilia serve as pivotal mediators of environmental signals and play crucial roles in neuronal responses. Disruption of ciliary function has been implicated in neuronal circuit disorders and aberrant neuronal excitability. However, the precise mechanisms remain elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCytoskeleton (Hoboken)
January 2025
Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
Dyneins are huge motor protein complexes that are essential for cell motility, cell division, and intracellular transport. Dyneins are classified into three major subfamilies, namely cytoplasmic, intraflagellar-transport (IFT), and ciliary dyneins, based on their intracellular localization and functions. Recently, several near-atomic resolution structures have been reported for cytoplasmic/IFT dyneins.
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