Parp2 is required for the differentiation of post-meiotic germ cells: identification of a spermatid-specific complex containing Parp1, Parp2, TP2 and HSPA2.

Spermiogenesis is a complex male germ cell post-meiotic differentiation process characterized by dramatic changes in chromatin structure and function, including chromatin condensation, transcriptional inhibition and the sequential replacement of histones by transition proteins and protamines. Recent advances, in mammalian cells, suggest a possible role of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation catalyzed by Parp1 and/or Parp2 in this process. We have recently reported severely compromised spermiogenesis in Parp2-deficient mice characterized by a marked delay in nuclear elongation whose molecular mechanisms remain however unknown. Here, using in vitro protein-protein interaction assays, we show that Parp2 interacts significantly with both the transition protein TP2 and the transition chaperone HSPA2, whereas Parp1 binds weakly to HSPA2. Parp2-TP2 interaction is partly mediated by poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation. Only Parp1 poly(ADP-ribosyl)ates HSPA2. In addition, a detailed analysis of spermatid maturation in Parp2-deficient mice, combining immunohistochemistry and electron microscopic approaches, reveals a loss of spermatids expressing TP2, a defect in chromatin condensation and abnormal formation of the manchette microtubules that, together, contribute to spermatid-specific cell death. In conclusion, we propose both Parps as new participants of a spermatid-specific protein complex involved in genome reorganization throughout spermiogenesis.

A sulfenic acid enzyme intermediate is involved in the catalytic mechanism of peptide methionine sulfoxide reductase from Escherichia coli.

Methionine oxidation into methionine sulfoxide is known to be involved in many pathologies and to exert regulatory effects on proteins. This oxidation can be reversed by a ubiquitous monomeric enzyme, the peptide methionine sulfoxide reductase (MsrA), whose activity in vivo requires the thioredoxin-regenerating system. The proposed chemical mechanism of Escherichia coli MsrA involves three Cys residues (positions 51, 198, and 206). A fourth Cys (position 86) is not important for catalysis. In the absence of a reducing system, 2 mol of methionine are formed per mole of enzyme for wild type and Cys-86 --> Ser mutant MsrA, whereas only 1 mol is formed for mutants in which either Cys-198 or Cys-206 is mutated. Reduction of methionine sulfoxide is shown to proceed through the formation of a sulfenic acid intermediate. This intermediate has been characterized by chemical probes and mass spectrometry analyses. Together, the results support a three-step chemical mechanism in vivo: 1) Cys-51 attacks the sulfur atom of the sulfoxide substrate leading, via a rearrangement, to the formation of a sulfenic acid intermediate on Cys-51 and release of 1 mol of methionine/mol of enzyme; 2) the sulfenic acid is then reduced via a double displacement mechanism involving formation of a disulfide bond between Cys-51 and Cys-198, followed by formation of a disulfide bond between Cys-198 and Cys-206, which liberates Cys-51, and 3) the disulfide bond between Cys-198 and Cys-206 is reduced by thioredoxin-dependent recycling system process.