Atg7 is required for acrosome biogenesis during spermatogenesis in mice  

作　　者：Hongna Wang Haifeng Wan Xixia Li Weixiao Liu Qi Chen Yaqing Wang Lin Yang Hongmei Tang Xiujun Zhang Enkui Duan Xiaoyang Zhao Fei Gao Wei Li 

机构地区：[1]State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China [2]University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China [3]State Key Laboratory of Molecular Developmental Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China [4]College of Life Sciences, Hebei United University, Tangshan, Hebei 063000, China

出　　处：《Cell Research》2014年第7期852-869,共18页细胞研究（英文版）

摘　　要：The acrosome is a specialized organelle that covers the anterior part of the sperm nucleus and plays an essential role in the process of fertilization. The molecular mechanism underlying the biogenesis of this lysosome-related organelle （LRO） is still largely unknown. Here, we show that germ cell-specific Atg7-knockout mice were infertile due to a defect in aerosome biogenesis and displayed a phenotype similar to human globozoospermia; this reproductive defect was successfully rescued by intracytoplasmic sperm injections. Furthermore, the depletion of Atg7 in germ cells did not affect the early stages of development of germ cells, but at later stages of spermatogenesis, the proacroso- mal vesicles failed to fuse into a single acrosomal vesicle during the Golgi phase, which finally resulted in irregular or nearly round-headed spermatozoa. Autophagic flux was disrupted in Atg7-depleted germ cells, finally leading to the failure of LC3 conjugation to Golgi apparatus-derived vesicles. In addition, Atg7 partially regulated another giobozo- ospermia-related protein, Golgi-associated PDZ- and coiled-coil motif-containing protein （GOPC）, during acrosome biogenesis. Finally, the injection of either autophagy or lysosome inhibitors into testis resulted in a similar phenotype to that of germ cell-specific AtgT-knockout mice. Altogether, our results uncover a new role for Atg7 in the biogenesis of the acrosome, and we provide evidence to support the autolysosome origination hypothesis for the acrosome.

关 键 词：acrosome biogenesis autolysosome AUTOPHAGY GLOBOZOOSPERMIA Atg7 

分 类 号：Q492[生物学—生理学] TQ465.5[化学工程—制药化工]