Gelatin Binding Proteins in Reproductive Physiology

Abstract

In order to advance the assisted reproductive technologies used in animals and human beings, it is important to accumulate basic informations about underlying molecular mechanisms that shape the biological processes of reproduction. From within seminal plasma, proteins perform a wide variety of distinct functions that regulate major reproductive events such as fertilization. The ability of such proteins to bind and interact with different antagonistic ions and biomolecules such as polysaccharides, lipids, and other proteins present in the male and female reproductive tract define these capabilities. Over the last two decades, extensive work has been undertaken in an attempt to define the role of seminal plasma proteins, of which, Gelatin binding proteins (GBPs) represent a large family. GBPs comprise of known group of Bovine seminal plasma (BSP) protein family, matrix metallo proteinases (MMP 2 and MMP 9) and fibronectin, which have been widely studied. The presence of a type II repeat is a characteristic feature of GBPs, which is similar in structure to the fibronectin type II domain (fn2), which has ability to bind multiple ligands including gelatin, glycosaminoglycans, choline phospholipids, and lipoproteins. Two fn2 domains are present within the BSP protein family, while, three fn2 domains are found in gelatinases (MMP-2 and MMP9), and ELSPBP1 (Epididymosomes Transfer Epididymal Sperm Binding Protein 1) contains four long fn2 domains. For the most part BSP proteins are exclusively expressed in seminal vesicles although mBSPH1, mBSPH2 and hBSPH1 are all expressed in the epididymis. The expression of gelatinases has been demonstrated in several organs and tissues such as the prostate, testis, epididymis, ovary, human placenta, cervix and endometrial wall. This review intends to bring current updates on the role of GBPs in reproductive physiology to light, which may act as basis for future studies on GBPs.

Proteins and Peptides as Important Modifiers of the Polymer Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications—A Review

“…For this reason, both types of gelatin possess different features, such as amino acids composition, charge, and isoelectric point. It is worth noting that either types of gelatin are commercially available at relatively low cost [50,[61][62][63].…”

Identification of Genes Targeted in South African Merino and Afrino Sheep Populations Under Long-Term Selection for Reproduction and Body Weight

“…RBMS3 was identi ed as one of the putative genes related to sperm fertility in Assaf sheep rams[47] (Serrano et al, 2019), while ELSPBP1 was differentially expressed in rams with high and low sperm motility[48] (Zhu et al, 2020). ELSPBP1 was associated with dead spermatozoa in cattle[49] (D'Amours et al, 2012) and consequently associated in various studies with spermatozoa in sub-fertile bulls[50,51] (D'Amours et al, 2010; Kumar et al, 2016). The gene BSPH1 was indicated as a marker of sperm fertility in mice[52] (Heidari-Vala et al, 2020) and linked to sperm capacitation[53,54]…”