Journal
BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 311, Issue 2, Pages 424-432Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2003.10.008
Keywords
dynamin-related protein; maternal inheritance; mitochondria; mitofusin; sperm
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The mitochondrial fusion factors mitofusins 1 and 2 (Mfn1 and Mfn2) and the fission factor dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) were found to be highly expressed in the pubertal and adult rat testis by Northern blot analysis. Immunohistochemistry using specific antisera to Mfn2 and Drp1 revealed a pronounced expression of the fusion and fission factors in the round and elongating spermatids in the seminiferous tubules, suggesting that at precise steps of spermiogenesis (i.e., steps 8-12), spermatid mitochondria, are rapidly homogenized by frequent fusion and division. Although physiological relevance of this phenomenon remains to be clarified, a role is proposed for it as an effective means of achieving complete and homogeneous ubiquitination of mitochondria, which has recently been demonstrated to be a mechanism for the elimination of paternal mitochondria during fertilization, based on the fact that the timing of expression of Mfn2 and Drp1 coincides well with that reported for a spermatid-specific ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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