Overexpression a novel zebra fish spermatogenesis-associated gene 17 (SPATA17) induces apoptosis in GC-1 cells

The spermatogenesis-associated 17 gene (SPATA17, previously named MSRG-11) was reported to be a candidate spermatocyte apoptosis-related gene which may play a critical role in human spermatogenesis, especially in meiosis. Analysis of SPATA17 expression and regulation in zebra fish may provide insight into the understanding of the complicated process of gonadogenesis and its potential function in spermatocyte cell apoptosis. In this study, we cloned and characterized the SPATA17 gene from zebra fish which consists of nine exons separated by eight introns. The consensus open reading frame (1258 bp) encodes a polypeptide of 357 amino acids which shares 44% identity with the human SPATA17 gene. Bioinformatic analysis reveals that SPATA17 protein contains three short calmodulin-binding motifs (IQ motif) and is considered to play a critical role in interactions with CaM proteins. Multi-tissue RT-PCR and Northern blot results demonstrated that the zebra fish SPATA17 gene was expressed strongly in testis and a slight amount of expression in ovary. Flow cytometry analysis and genomic DNA ladders result showed that the expression of SPATA17 protein in the GC-1 cell line could accelerate cell apoptosis. Analysis of the SPATA17 sequence and its spatial expression pattern indicate that this gene is highly conserved and may play an important role in the process of zebra fish gonadogenesis.