Deficiency of MTMR14 impairs male fertility in Mus musculus

PLoS One. 2018 Nov 9;13(11):e0206224. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206224. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Calcium signalling is critical for successful fertilization. In spermatozoa, capacitation, hyperactivation of motility and acrosome reactions are all mediated by increases in intracellular Ca2+. Our previous reports have shown that deficiency of MTMR14, a novel phosphoinositide phosphatase, induces a muscle disorder by disrupting Ca2+ homeostasis. Recently, we found that MTMR14 is also expressed in the testes; however, whether deficiency of MTMR14 in the testes also alters the Ca2+ concentration and impairs male fertility remains entirely unknown. In the present study, we found that MTMR14 is also expressed in the testes and mature sperm cells, suggesting that deficiency of MTMR14 might have some effect on male fertility. Both in vivo fertility and in vitro fertilization tests were then performed, and we found that MTMR14-/- male mice showed decreased fertility. A series of experiments were then arranged to test the testis and sperm parameters; we found that MTMR14 deficiency caused small size of the testes, small numbers of both total and immotile sperm, expanded membrane of sperm tail, a decreased proportion of acrosome reaction, and in contrast, an increased proportion of abnormal sperm and augmented apoptosis, etc. Further study also found that the muscle force of the vas deferens decreased significantly in KO mice. Intracellular calcium homeostasis in the testes and epididymis was impaired by MTMR14 deletion; moreover, the relative mRNA expression levels of Itpr1, Itpr2, and Ryr3 were dramatically decreased in MTMR14 KO mice. Thus, MTMR14 deletion impairs male fertility by causing decreased muscle force of the vas deferens and intracellular calcium imbalance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acrosome Reaction / genetics
  • Animals
  • Calcium Signaling / genetics*
  • Epididymis / growth & development
  • Epididymis / metabolism
  • Fertility / genetics*
  • Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors / genetics
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases / genetics*
  • Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Release Channel / genetics
  • Sperm Capacitation / genetics
  • Spermatozoa / metabolism*
  • Spermatozoa / pathology
  • Testis / growth & development
  • Testis / metabolism

Substances

  • Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors
  • Ip3r2 protein, mouse
  • Itpr1 protein, mouse
  • Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Release Channel
  • MTMR14 protein, mouse
  • Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases

Grants and funding

Wuhan Youzhiyou Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd, only provided support in the form of salary for the author [CC], but did not have any additional role in the whole project. This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No: 31771274 to Jinhua Shen), and also supported by ‘the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities’, South-Central University for Nationalities (Grant No: CZY18020 to Jinhua Shen). The funder provided support in the form of research materials, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.