Evidence of Proacrosin Molecule Abnormality as a Possible Cause of Low Acrosin Activity and Unexplained Failure of Fertilization <i>In Vitro</i>

SHIMIZU, YASUSHI; KODAMA, HTOEYA; FUKUDA, JUN; TANAKA, TOSHINOBU

doi:10.1002/j.1939-4640.1997.tb01920.x

Cited by 12 publications

References 27 publications

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Examination of the Binding Ability of Bovine Spermatozoa to the Zona Pellucida as an Indicator of Fertility

BRAUNDMEIER,

DEMERS,

SHANKS

et al. 2002

Journal of Andrology

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Despite the development of many new techniques, laboratory assays still do not predict male fertility accurately. To identify targets for laboratory assessment, we first need to determine which steps in fertilization are most often defective in subfertile males. We developed a competitive in vitro fertilization assay in which spermatozoa from 2 different males, stained with different lipophilic dyes, are incubated together with oocytes in a droplet. By exposing mixed spermatozoa to the same oocytes, this assay controls for many of the variables of in vitro fertilization and should allow identification of the most common faulty steps in fertilization. The relationship of zona‐binding ability to fertility is controversial. Therefore, as a first step, we determined if zona pellucida‐binding ability, measured by this competitive assay, was related to bovine sper‐matozoal fertility. Fertility data were collected from 2 groups of bulls by 2 means of evaluation, nonreturn to estrus rates postinsemination and competitive insemination. In the nonreturn to estrus study, semen samples from 15 bulls were effectively ranked by zona‐binding ability, using pairwise competitive in vitro zona‐binding assays (R2 = 0.84). However, this ranking was not significantly correlated with nonreturn rates (r = −0.04). In the competitive insemination study, semen samples from 8 bulls were effectively ranked by pairwise comparison using the competitive zona‐binding assay (R2 = 0.67). Again, this ranking was not significantly correlated to the competitive insemination index calculated for these bulls (r = 0.29). In the third study, we tested 3 bulls to determine if in vivo zona binding, assessed by the number of accessory spermatozoa, was correlated with in vitro zona binding. The number of accessory spermatozoa on oocytes recovered from cows after mating was not correlated with in vitro competitive binding of the spermatozoa. In conclusion, in vitro competitive zona binding was not correlated with bovine fertility or binding of accessory spermatozoa to oocytes in vivo.

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Examination of the Binding Ability of Bovine Spermatozoa to the Zona Pellucida as an Indicator of Fertility

BRAUNDMEIER,

DEMERS,

SHANKS

et al. 2002

Journal of Andrology

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The molecular evolution of acrosin in placental mammals

Raterman

Springer

2008

Molecular Reproduction Devel

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Acrosin is thought to fulfill several different roles in fertilization including that of a serine protease and in secondary zona pellucida (ZP) binding. However, acrosin's importance as a fertilization protein has been questioned. Especially since it was discovered that acrosin knockout mice are fertile. In this study, we explored the sites involved in serine protease activity and secondary binding. We also assessed conservation in functional sites across species and examined whether amino acid changes present in the human population have the potential to affect fertility. In addition, since many mammalian reproduction proteins have been found to evolve rapidly, we tested for positive selection. Sequences from 43 mammals from all 19 placental orders, which included a total of 828 nucleotides from acrosin exons 2, 3, 4, and a portion of exon 5, were obtained. We found that all sites of the serine catalytic triad as well as three other sites linked to catalytic activity were completely conserved. Five of six sites proposed to play a role in secondary binding were 100% conserved as basic residues. These results support an evolutionary conserved role for acrosin as a serine protease and secondary binding protein across placental mammals. We found statistically significant support for positive selection within acrosin, but no single amino acid site reached the significance level of P > 0.95 for inclusion within the category omega > 1. Based upon two amino acid mutation scoring systems, three out of seven human residue changing single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were found to be potentially protein-altering mutations.

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Proteases and Protease Inhibitors in Male Reproduction

Gurupriya

Roy

2017

Proteases in Physiology and Pathology

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Evidence of Proacrosin Molecule Abnormality as a Possible Cause of Low Acrosin Activity and Unexplained Failure of Fertilization In Vitro

Cited by 12 publications

References 27 publications

Examination of the Binding Ability of Bovine Spermatozoa to the Zona Pellucida as an Indicator of Fertility

Examination of the Binding Ability of Bovine Spermatozoa to the Zona Pellucida as an Indicator of Fertility

The molecular evolution of acrosin in placental mammals

Proteases and Protease Inhibitors in Male Reproduction

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