Scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered a new regulatory mechanism for sperm cell development

incomplete statistics, about 15-20% of infertile couples worldwide, nearly 50% of whom are male-caused. Environmental pollution, life pressure, genetic diseases and other factors are important causes of male infertility, but more than half of infertile men can not be clear about the cause. China
Molecular Cell Science Innovation Center of Excellence (Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, referred to as the "Molecular Cell Center") Liu Mofang research team in cooperation with a number of laboratories at home and abroad, found that the PIWI/piRNA complex in sperm cells can be used as a protein production regulation "machine", activating the translation of proteins in mouse sperm cells, to ensure the production of functional sperm. The study revealed new regulatory mechanisms for translation and protein synthesis in sperm cells, providing theoretical basis and methods for the diagnosis and treatment of sperm formation disorders and related male infertility. The results were published in Cell, the world's top academic journal, in the early hours of December 13, Beijing time.In the process of sperm cell evolution into sperm, as sperm deformation and nucleus compression, to a certain stage of development, gene transcription activity in the nucleus will be completely stopped, those for later sperm cell development needs to be pre-recorded as messenger RNA (mRNA), and then stored in the inhibitory state in sperm cells, until a specific stage of development is activated translation, synthesis protein function. This is the classic "transcription-translation de-coupled" phenomenon in sperm formation, but how do you get "stopped" into the "warehouse" mRNA reboot? This has always been a mystery in reproductive biology, and scientists have this time found the key to opening the "warehouse" door.
The Liu Mofang research team, in collaboration with a number of laboratories, found that a class of animal reproductive cell-specific small molecule non-coding RNA-piRNA, through the PIWI/piRNA complex "machine" formed with the PIWI family protein, which is also unique to reproductive cells, "forward" regulates the "reset" of mRNA in sperm cells, and further identifies the epinexual translation starting factor eIF3f and The RNA binding protein HuR "assists" in this process, and with huR identification "labels" on mRNA, PIWI/piRNA accurately selects the target mRNA in the "mRNA warehouse" and works with eIF3f, which is free around the "mRNA warehouse" as the key to opening the translation, to initiate target mRNA translation and protein product generation to ensure the healthy development of sperm. If this process fails, mRNA will not be activated in time to make proteins, resulting in blocked sperm cell development and abnormal male reproduction. This study found that the important mechanism of protein translation activation during sperm development greatly promoted our understanding and understanding of the biological process of sperm formation, and will provide theoretical basis and method strategies for the early molecular diagnosis and clinical treatment of male infertility.
the study was carried out by the Liu Mofang Research Group of the Molecular Cell Center in cooperation with the Zhou Yu Research Group of Wuhan University and the Shi Huixuan Research Group of the Shanghai Family Planning Science Research Institute. Dr. Dai Peng and Dr. Wang Xin of the Molecular Cell Center, Dr. Gou Lantao of the University of California, San Diego, and Ph.D. students Li Zhixuan, Wen Ze and Chen Zonggui, Ph.D. students of Wuhan University, are co-authors of the research paper. The study was also greatly assisted by Professor Fu Todong of the University of California, San Diego, Li Partysheng Researcher of molecular cell center, Li Jinsong Researcher, etc. The achievement was supported by funds from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology,
, the Ministry of Education, the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, the China Post-Bo Fund, SA-SIBS, etc. The data collection for this work is also supported by the Animal Experimental Technology Platform of the Public Technical Service Center of the Molecular Cell Center, the Molecular Biology Technology Platform and the Cell Analysis Technology Platform, and the
Protein Science Center (Shanghai).
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