We identified a previously uncharacterized gene, spermatid maturation 1 (Spem1), encoding a protein exclusively expressed in the cytoplasm of steps 14 -16 elongated spermatids in the mouse testis. This protein contains no known functional domains and is highly conserved across mammalian species. Male mice deficient in Spem1 were completely infertile because of deformed sperm characterized by a bent head wrapped around by the neck and the middle piece of the tail. We show that lack of Spem1 causes failure of the cytoplasm to become loose and detach from the head and the neck region of the developing spermatozoa. Retained cytoplasmic components mechanically obstruct the straightening of the sperm head and the stretching of the growing tail, leading to the bending of the head in the neck, followed by the wrapping of the head by the neck or the middle piece of the sperm tail. Our study reveals that proper cytoplasm removal is a genetically regulated process requiring the participation of Spem1 and that lack of Spem1 causes sperm deformation and male infertility. cytoplasmic droplets ͉ gene knockout ͉ spermatogenesis ͉ spermiation ͉ spermiogenesis

Direct injection of a single spermatozoon into an oocyte (ICSI) can produce apparently normal offspring. Although the production of normal offspring by ICSI has been successful in mice and humans, it has been less successful in many other species. The reason for this is not clear, but could be, in part, due to inconsistent activation of oocytes because of delayed disintegration of sperm plasma membrane within oocytes and incorporation of the acrosome containing a spectrum of hydrolyzing enzymes. In the mouse, the removal of sperm plasma membrane and acrosome was not a prerequisite to produce offspring by ICSI, but it resulted in earlier onset of oocyte activation and better embryonic development. The best result was obtained when spermatozoa were demembranated individually immediately before ICSI by using lysolecithin, a hydrolysis product of membrane phospholipids.mouse ͉ human ͉ Ca 2ϩ oscillations ͉ fertilization ͉ lysolecithin D irect injection of a single spermatozoon into an oocyte, commonly called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), can produce apparently normal offspring even though it bypasses a number of biological processes necessary for normal fertilization. As long as the sperm nucleus has intact genetic integrity, ICSI can produce healthy offspring regardless of concentrations, morphology, and motility of spermatozoa (1, 2). Only one genomically normal spermatozoon is needed to fertilize one oocyte. A salient difference between natural and ICSI fertilization is that, in the latter, the sperm plasma membrane as well as acrosome (which contains a spectrum of powerful hydrolyzing enzymes) are introduced into an oocyte. For species with small acrosomes, injection of the acrosome into an oocyte apparently does not produce serious problems, but for species like the hamster, with very large acrosomes, injection inevitably results in death of the oocyte (3). We had demonstrated that the contents of the acrosome are potentially harmful to oocytes (4). A notable difference between normal and ICSI fertilization is that repetitive transient increases in intracellular Ca 2ϩ concentration of the oocyte (Ca 2ϩ oscillations), the pivotal signal for oocyte activation (5-8), begins much more slowly in ICSI oocytes than in normally fertilized oocytes. In the mouse, for instance, Ca 2ϩ oscillations begin 1-3 min after plasma membrane fusion between a fertilizing spermatozoon and an oocyte (9), whereas oscillation begins 15-30 min after ICSI (10, 11). In human oocytes, Ca 2ϩ oscillations start 4-12 h after ICSI, when a plasma membrane-intact spermatozoon is injected after immobilization by touching the terminal part of the tail (12). Ca 2ϩ oscillations begin faster (14 Ϯ 6 min) when a spermatozoon is immobilized by applying several piezo pulses to the proximal one-third of the sperm tail before injection (13). Kasai et al. (14) reported that oocyte activation, assessed by the completion of meiosis, occurred earlier when spermatozoa were freed from the plasma membrane before ICSI. Increased fertilization rates aft...

Efficient integration of functional genes is an essential prerequisite for successful gene delivery such as cell transfection, animal transgenesis, and gene therapy. Gene delivery strategies based on viral vectors are currently the most efficient. However, limited cargo capacity, host immune response, and the risk of insertional mutagenesis are limiting factors and of concern. Recently, several groups have used transposon-based approaches to deliver genes to a variety of cells. The piggyBac (pB) transposase in particular has been shown to be well suited for cell transfection and gene therapy approaches because of its flexibility for molecular modification, large cargo capacity, and high transposition activity. However, safety considerations regarding transposase gene insertions into host genomes have rarely been addressed. Here we report our results on engineering helper-independent pB plasmids. The single-plasmid gene delivery system carries both the piggyBac transposase (pBt) expression cassette as well as the transposon cargo flanked by terminal repeat element sequences. Improvements to the helper-independent structure were achieved by developing new plasmids in which the pBt gene is rendered inactive after excision of the transposon from the plasmid. As a consequence, potentially negative effects that may develop by the persistence of an active pBt gene posttransposition are eliminated. The results presented herein demonstrate that our helper-independent plasmids represent an important step in the development of safe and efficient gene delivery methods that should prove valuable in gene therapy and transgenic approaches.