• PMID: 11737268
• Gene Name: Sptrx-2
• Condition: Flagellar anomalies, Male infertility
• Association: he sperm specific expression of Sptrx-2, together with its chromosomal assignment to a position reported as a potential locus for flagellar anomalies and male infertility phenotypes such as primary ciliary dyskinesia, suggests that it might be a novel com
• Sex: Male
• Infertility type: Male infertility
• Other associated phenotypes: Flagellar anomalies, Male infertility

Sptrx-2, a fusion protein composed of one thioredoxin and three tandemly repeated NDP-kinase domains is expressed in human testis germ cells

Sadek CM, Damdimopoulos AE, Pelto-Huikko M, Gustafsson JA, Spyrou G, Miranda-Vizuete A.

BACKGROUND: Thioredoxins (Trx) are small redox proteins that function as general protein disulphide reductases and regulate several cellular processes such as transcription factor DNA binding activity, apoptosis and DNA synthesis. In mammalian organisms, thioredoxins are generally ubiquitously expressed in all tissues, with the exception of Sptrx-1 which is specifically expressed in sperm cells. RESULTS: We report here the identification and characterization of a novel member of the thioredoxin family, the second with a tissue-specific distribution in human sperm, termed Sptrx-2. The Sptrx-2 ORF (open reading frame) encodes for a protein of 588 amino acids with two different domains: an N-terminal thioredoxin domain encompassing the first 105 residues and a C-terminal domain composed of three repeats of a NDP kinase domain. The Sptrx-2 gene spans about 51 kb organized in 17 exons and maps at locus 7p13-14. Sptrx-2 mRNA is exclusively expressed in human testis, mainly in primary spermatocytes, while Sptrx-2 protein expression is detected from the pachytene spermatocytes stage onwards, peaking at round spermatids stage. Recombinant full-length Sptrx-2 expressed in bacteria displayed neither thioredoxin nor NDP kinase enzymatic activity. CONCLUSIONS: The sperm specific expression of Sptrx-2, together with its chromosomal assignment to a position reported as a potential locus for flagellar anomalies and male infertility phenotypes such as primary ciliary dyskinesia, suggests that it might be a novel component of the human sperm axonemal organization. FAU - Sadek, C M AU - Sadek CM AD - Center for Biotechnology, Department of Biosciences at NOVUM, Karolinska Institutet, S-14157 Huddinge, Sweden. FAU - Damdimopoulos, A E AU - Damdimopoulos AE FAU - Pelto-Huikko, M AU - Pelto-Huikko M FAU - Gustafsson, J A AU - Gustafsson JA FAU - Spyrou, G AU - Spyrou G