Tubulin glycylation controls axonemal dynein activity, flagellar beat, and male fertility

In this study, we generated a mouse model entirely lacking tubulin glycylation. Male mice were subfertile owing to aberrant beat patterns of their sperm flagella, which impeded the straight swimming of sperm cells. Using cryo–electron tomography, we showed that lack of glycylation caused abnormal conformations of the dynein arms within sperm axonemes, providing the structural basis for the observed dysfunction. Our findings reveal the importance of microtubule glycylation for controlled flagellar beating, directional sperm swimming, and male fertility.

Source: ScienceNOW - January 7, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Gadadhar, S., Alvarez Viar, G., Hansen, J. N., Gong, A., Kostarev, A., Ialy-Radio, C., Leboucher, S., Whitfield, M., Ziyyat, A., Toure, A., Alvarez, L., Pigino, G., Janke, C. Tags: Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Online Only r-articles Source Type: news