Molecular characterization of the TCP11 gene which is the human homologue of the arouse gene encoding the receptor of fertilization promoting peptide

A human testis-specific gene was isolated by subtractive hybridization between the cDNA pools of adult and fetal testes, followed by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). This gene sequence is highly homologous to a large portion of the mouse Tcp11 gene which is important in sperm function because it encodes the receptor for fertilization-promoting peptide (PPP). The gene was mapped to human chromosome band 6p21 by fluorescence in situ hybridization. The 9 exon gene spans a 22.8 kp genomic DNA sequence. The mature processed message encodes a 441 amino acid protein that is highly homologous to the mouse 566 amino acid protein after the first 142 amino acids. Results of Northern blot and RT-PCR analyses of RNA extracted from human tissues revealed that the gene is only expressed in fertile adult testes, but not in azoospermic testes, fetal testes nor in other human tissues. Taken together, our results along with the mouse Tcp11 function suggest that TCP11 gene is important in sperm function and fertility.