Authors: Richard Oko Andrew Donald Wei Xu Aarnoud C van der Spoel
Publish Date: 2011/10/11
Volume: 346, Issue: 1, Pages: 119-
Abstract
The acrosome is a specialized secretory vesicle located in the head of spermatozoa and has an essential role during fertilization This organelle and the sperm nucleus have aberrant morphologies in forms of male infertility in humans teratozoospermia often associated with poor motility asthenoteratozoospermia To further our understanding of the aetiology of these conditions we have performed a pathological investigation of a model of asthenoteratozoospermia that can be induced in mice by Nbutyldeoxynojirimycin NBDNJ We have found that in mice treated with NBDNJ instead of an acrosome forming over the round spermatid nucleus multivesicular bodies MVB accumulate in the vicinity of this nucleus Electron microscopy has revealed that proacrosomic vesicles or granules PAG secreted during the Golgi phase of spermiogenesis do not fuse together to form an acrosomic vesicle but rather attach transiently to the spermatid nucleus Immunocytochemistry has shown that acrosomal membrane proteins and cytosolic acrosomeassociated proteins are redirected to MVB in affected testes whereas glycoproteins originating in the dense core of the PAG are degraded Thus the major effect of NBDNJ is to inhibit membrane fusion of Golgiderived secretory vesicles destined for acrosome formation raising the possibility that these vesicles are critically affected in forms of asthenoteratozoospermia
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