Analysis of germ cell specific actin capping protein

• Project/Area Number: 16K20133
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Urology
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Tetsuji Soda 大阪大学, 医学系研究科, 招へい教員 (20722656)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2017)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,640,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥840,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
• Keywords: アクチンキャッピングプロテイン / 精巣特異的 / 男性不妊症 / 男性不妊

Outline of Final Research Achievements

By the use of testicular specimen obtained from testicular biopsy, the cellular localization of CPβ3 changed dynamically at each step during spermatogenesis. Double-staining analysis revealed that CPα3 localization was identical to CPβ3 at every step in the spermatogenic cells. Co-IP assay with recombinant protein showed that CPα3 and CPβ3 form a protein complex.
Spermatozoa from the normal group were stained homogenously by both CPα3 and CPβ3. In contrast, significantly more spermatozoa in the group of oligozoo- or asthenozoospermatozoa showed heterogeneous or lack of staining for either CPα3 or CPβ3. Even by confining the observations to morphologically normal spermatozoa, the percentage of abnormal staining was still higher in the oligozoo- or asthenozoospermatozoa group.
In conclusion, CPβ3 in conjunction with CPα3 seemed to play an important role in spermatogenesis and may be associated with male infertility.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Systematic characterization of human testis-specific actin capping protein β3 as a possible biomarker for male infertility. (2017)
  • Author(s): Soda T, Miyagawa Y, Ueda N, Takezawa K, Okuda H, Fukuhara S, Fujita K, Kiuchi H, Uemura M, Okamoto Y, Tsujimura A, Tanaka H, Nonomura N.
  • Journal Title: Hum Reprod. Volume: 32 Pages: 514-522
  • DOI: 10.1093/humrep/dew353
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] ヒト精巣特異的アクチンキャッピングプロテインβ3の系統的解析と男性不妊症の新規バイオマーカーとしての可能性 (2017)
  • Author(s): 惣田哲次、宮川 康、上田倫央 、福原慎一郎、藤田和利、植村元秀、木内 寛、今村亮一、田中宏光、野々村祝夫
  • Organizer: 第26回泌尿器科分子・細胞研究会
• [Presentation] 精巣特異的アクチンキャッピングプロテインは精子の妊孕能を予測する新たな診断マーカーになりうる (2017)
  • Author(s): 惣田哲次、宮川 康、上田倫央、福原慎一郎、木内 寛、岡本吉夫、田中宏光、野々村祝夫
  • Organizer: 第105回日本泌尿器科学会総会
• [Presentation] 精巣生殖細胞特異的遺伝子の単離・解析と臨床応用に向けて (2017)
  • Author(s): 惣田哲次
  • Organizer: 日本アンドロロジー学会第36回学術大会
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Dynamic transcriptional profiles of human testis-specific actin capping protein β3 and its possible implication of male infertility (2016)
  • Author(s): Soda, T.; Miyagawa, Y; Ueda, N.; Takezawa, K.; Fukuhara, S.; Kiuchi, H.; Tanaka, H. and Nonomura, N.
  • Organizer: ESHRE Annual Meeting
  • Place of Presentation: フィンランド ヘルシンキ
  • Year and Date: 2016-07-03
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Human capping protein β3, a novel isoform of testis-specific actin capping protein β3 subunit; the dynamic transcriptional profiles during spermatogenesis and possible implications of male infertility (2016)
  • Author(s): Tetsuji Soda, Yasushi Miyagawa, Norichika Ueda, Kentaro Takezawa, Shinichiro Fukuhara, Hiroshi Kiuchi, Hiromitsu Tanaka, Norio Nonomura
  • Organizer: AUA2016
  • Place of Presentation: アメリカ サンディエゴ
  • Year and Date: 2016-05-06
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] ヒト男性生殖細胞におけるアクチンキャッピングプロテインの発現解析 ―キャッピングプロテインα3とβ3は精母細胞以後に共発現し形態形成に関わっている (2016)
  • Author(s): 惣田哲次、宮川 康、上田倫央 、竹澤健太郎、福原慎一郎、木内 寛、岡本吉夫、 田中宏光、野々村祝夫
  • Organizer: 第104回日本泌尿器科学会総会
  • Place of Presentation: 仙台
  • Year and Date: 2016-04-23