Chimeric analysis with newly established EGFP/DsRed2-tagged ES cells identify HYDIN as essential for spermiogenesis in mice.

In this study, we established an ESC line from RBGS (Red Body Green Sperm) transgenic mice [B6D2-Tg(CAG/Su9-DsRed2, Acr3-EGFP)RBGS002Osb] whose spermatozoa exhibit green fluorescence in the acrosome and red fluorescence in the mitochondria within the flagellar midpiece that is retained after the acrosome reaction. We utilized these new ESCs to analyze HYDIN, which is reported to function in sperm motility in humans. Analysis of Hydin-disrupted spermatozoa in mice is difficult as Hydin-mutant mice (hy3) die within 3 weeks, before sexual maturation, due to hydrocephaly. To circumvent the early lethality of the whole-body knockout, we disrupted Hydin in RBGS-ESCs and generated chimeric mice, which survived into sexual maturity. Hydin-disrupted spermatozoa obtained from the chimeric mice possessed short tails and were immotile. When we injected Hydin-disrupted spermatozoa into oocytes, heterozygous pups were obtained, which suggests that the genome of Hydin-disrupted spermatozoa can produce viable pups. Consequently, RBGS-ESCs can be a useful tool for screening and analysis of male-fertility related genes in chimeric mice. PMID: 30089752 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Experimental Animals - Category: Research Tags: Exp Anim Source Type: research