• PMID: 21444326
• Gene Name: LYZL4
• Condition: May be important for fertilization
• Association: Associated
• Sex: Male
• Infertility type: Male infertility
• Other associated phenotypes: May be important for fertilization

Lyzl4, a novel mouse sperm-related protein, is involved in fertilization

Sun R, Shen R, Li J, Xu G, Chi J, Li L, Ren J, Wang Z, Fei J.

The role of Chicken-type (c-type) lysozyme, a prototype lysozyme, in immunity has been characterized in many organisms. In this study, we cloned a novel c-type lysozyme-like gene, Lyzl4, which was located on mouse chromosome 9F4 and encoded 145 amino acids with a putative signal peptide and a protease cleavage site. The mature recombinant Lyzl4 protein expressed in yeast did not show the bacteriolytic activity. Sequence alignment analysis demonstrated that 3 of the 20 invariant residues in c-type lysozymes were changed in Lyzl4. One of the 'changed' amino acids (D52G) is located in the catalytic domain. Lyzl4 mRNA was selectively expressed in testis and epididymis in adult mice, with varying expression level across different developmental stages. High level of Lyzl4 protein was found on the spermatozoa of acrosomal region and principal piece of tail. Immuno-neutralization of Lyzl4 protein in spermatozoa with its specific antibody significantly decreased in vitro fertilization percentage in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting that Lyzl4 might be important for fertilization. FAU - Sun, Ruilin AU - Sun R AD - Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China. FAU - Shen, Ruling AU - Shen R FAU - Li, Jun AU - Li J FAU - Xu, Guojiang AU - Xu G FAU - Chi, Jun AU - Chi J FAU - Li, Limei AU - Li L FAU - Ren, Jianke AU - Ren J FAU - Wang, Zhugang AU - Wang Z