CD9 protects the sperm from cytotoxic factors in the epididymis as extracellular components

Woojin Kang; Kazuki Sugiyama; Daiki Katano; Sae Horiike; Hiromu Morimoto; Ban Sato; Natsuko Kawano; Mitsutoshi Yamada; Mami Miyado; Kenji Miyado

doi:10.17912/micropub.biology.000950

CD9 protects the sperm from cytotoxic factors in the epididymis as extracellular components

MicroPubl Biol. 2023 Sep 20:2023:10.17912/micropub.biology.000950. doi: 10.17912/micropub.biology.000950. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Woojin Kang^{1

2}, Kazuki Sugiyama², Daiki Katano^{2

3}, Sae Horiike^{2

4}, Hiromu Morimoto⁵, Ban Sato³, Natsuko Kawano³, Mitsutoshi Yamada⁶, Mami Miyado^{7

8}, Kenji Miyado^{2

9}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory Animal Resource Center, Transborder Medical Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
² Department of Reproductive Biology, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Department of Life Sciences, School of Agriculture, Meiji University, Tama-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan.
⁴ Department of Bioscience, Graduate School of Life Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁵ Department of Nutritional Science and Food Safety, Faculty of Applied Bioscience, Tokyo University of Agriculture,Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁷ Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Beppu University, Beppu, Oita, Japan.
⁸ Department of Molecular Endocrinology, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁹ Division of Diversity Research, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

The mechanism by which seemingly normal sperm cause infertility is still under debate. Although CD9 is expressed in male reproductive tissues, its role in male fertility remains unclear. To address this, we investigated the role of CD9 in analyzing Cd9 -deficient ( Cd9 -KO) male mice. The litter size of Cd9 -KO males was comparable, regardless of mating experience. When Cd9 -KO males experienced their first mating chance, a considerable number of neonates died 48 hours after birth. Electron microscopy reveals the presence of CD9 in the epididymal space. Our results suggest that CD9 contributes to male fertility as an extracellular component.

Grants and funding

This study was supported in part by JSPS KAKENHI (grant numbers: JP19H01067 and JP21K18298).