Mus musculus Barrier-To-Autointegration Factor 2 (Banf2) is Not Essential for Spermatogenesis or Fertility.

The barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF) is widely expressed in most human tissues and plays a critical role in chromatin organization, nuclear envelope assembly, gonadal development, and embryonic stem cell self-renewal. Complete loss of BAF has been shown to lead to embryonic lethality and gonadal defects. The BAF paralog, namely, barrier-to-autointegration factor 2 (BANF2), exhibits a testis-predominant expression pattern in both humans and mice. Unlike BAF, it may cause isolated male infertility. Therefore, we used the CRISPR/Cas9 system to generate Banf2-knockout mice to further study its function in spermatogenesis. Unexpectedly, knockout mice did not show any detectable abnormalities in histological structure of the testis, epididymis, ovary, and other tissues, and exhibited normal fertility, indicating that Banf2 is not essential for mouse spermatogenesis and fertility.

[Research progress of proteins related to sperm tail development].

The structure of sperm tail is closely related to its motor function, which directly determines whether the sperm can be normally transported to fallopian tube and fertilize the ovum. The formation and development of sperm tail is a very complex process, which is finely regulated by various kinds of proteins. Research finds that defects of various sperm tail development related proteins can lead to oligospermia, asthenozoospermia and teratospermia. Based on the ultrastructure of sperm tail, we summarize the recent research progress of the proteins related to sperm tail development, thereby providing the theoretical basis and practical possibility for the diagnosis and treatment of male infertility.

[MicroRNA regulates Sertoli cell proliferation and adhesion].

Spermatogenesis requires both germ cells and testicular somatic cells, which are also involved in testicular development and male fertility. Sertoli cells are the only somatic cells in the seminiferous tubules and play very important roles in normal spermatogenesis. Abnormality of Sertoli cells in proliferation and adhesion may induce aberrant spermatogenesis and eventually cause infertility. Recently, various studies have demonstrated that miRNA are involved in the regulation of Sertoli cell proliferation and adhesion. Additionally, miRNA expression could be affected by hormone, endocrine interferon, and nutrition. In this review, we summarize miRNAs related to Sertoli cell proliferation and adhesion, which will be helpful for finding and identifying more miRNAs from Sertoli cells. The review will also provide theoretical basis for the pathogenesis of infertility associated with Sertoli cells.

[Sperm acrosome formation-associated genes in mice: Advances in studies].

Spermiogenesis is a complex process of differentiation and morphologic alteration, in which sperm acrosome formation is an important stage. Acrosome is an essential component of the sperm head, which develops in four distinct phases: Golgi, cap, acro- somal, and maturation, each supported by precise and orderly regulation of various genes. The regulatory genes which act on Golgi ap- paratus include GOPC, Hrb, SPATA16, PICK1, and CK2α', those involved in the cap phase are Fads2, syntaxin 2, Kdm3a, and UBR7, and participating in acrosomal and maturation phases are KIFC1, Rnf19a, and DPY19L2. The abnormalities of these genes may affect male fertility by influencing the connection of the nuclear dense lamina and acroplaxome with the nuclear membrane and then the fusion and transportation of vesicles. This review focuses on the genes involved in different phases of acrosome formation.

Stimulated by retinoic acid gene 8 (Stra8) plays important roles in many stages of spermatogenesis.

To clarify the functions and mechanism of stimulated by retinoic acid gene 8 (Stra8) in spermatogenesis, we analyzed the testes from Stra8 knockout and wild-type mice during the first wave of spermatogenesis. Comparisons showed no significant differences in morphology and number of germ cells at 11 days postpartum, while 21 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with spermatogenesis were identified. We speculate that Stra8 performs many functions in different phases of spermatogenesis, such as establishment of spermatogonial stem cells, spermatogonial proliferation and self-renewal, spermatogonial differentiation and meiosis, through direct or indirect regulation of these DEGs. We therefore established a preliminary regulatory network of Stra8 during spermatogenesis. These results will provide a theoretical basis for further research on the mechanism underlying the role of Stra8 in spermatogenesis.