Abnormal expression of centrosome protein (centrin) in spermatozoa of male human infertility

To study the relations between male infertility and centrosome protein (centrin) and the functions of centrin in spermatogenesis, the matured spermatozoa of 10 normal male people and 18 male infertility patients were stained by immunofluorescence labeling antibody against centrin. The results showed that two fluorescence signal dots appeared in the normal male spermatozoa and were located at the base of flagellum. They are proximal centriole and distal centriole. However, in some spermatozoa of the male infertility, centrin protein was located abnormally at the base of flagellum and its staining signals were spread, the normal proximal and distal centrioles were confused and could not be recognized separately. These results suggest that abnormality of centrosome protein may be related to male infertility. This discovery may be used as a marker of abnormal sperm and male infertility.     

Fibrillarin redistributes to the spindle poles and partially colocalizes with NuMA during mitosis

Fibrillarin, a major protein in the nucleolus, is known to redistribute during mitosis from the nucleolus to the cytosol, and is related to the dynamics of post-mitotic reassembly of the nucleolus. To better understand the dynamic behavior and the relationship with other cytoplasmic structures, we have now expressed fibrillarin-pDsRed1 fusion protein in HeLa cells. The results showed that a part of fibrillarin was associated with mitotic spindle poles in the mitotic cells. Nocodazole-induced microtubule depolymerization resulted in fibrillarin redistribution throughout the cytoplasm, and removal of nocodazole resulted in relocalization of fibrillarin at the polar region during the mitotic spindles reassembly. In a mitotic cell free system, fibrillarin was found in the center of taxol-induced microtubule asters. Moreover, fibrillarin was found to colocalize with the nuclear mitotic apparatus protein (NuMA) at the poles of mitotic cells. Therefore, it is postulated that the polar redistribution of fibrillarin is mediated by microtubules.     

细胞中心体的复制与调控

中心体复制异常与基因组不稳定存在相关性,并能引起某些肿瘤疾病发生。中心体复制与细胞周期事件相耦合,许多细胞周期调节蛋白和中心体蛋白调节着中心体的复制,中心体复制还受癌基因和抑癌基因及其表达产物的调节。研究中心体复制调控机制,对肿瘤的早期诊断和治疗有重要的作用。     

Stability of centrosome numbers in poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1- and poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase-deficient mouse ES cells

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (Parp-1) localizes mainly in the nucleus and functions in DNA repair, genome stability and cell death regulation. Meanwhile, it also localizes in centrosomes and is involved in the regulation of centrosome duplication. An abnormal increase in centrosome numbers is frequently observed in Parp-1-deficient (Parp-1^−/−) mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) (Kanai et al. (2003) Mol. Cell. Biol. 23, 2451–2462). However, there are no studies on whether the centrosome abnormality occurs also in other cell types under Parp-1 deficiency. In this study, we report that Parp-1^−/− mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell lines did not show an abnormally increased number of centrosomes compared to wild-type ES cells. Recently, poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (Parg) has also been shown to localize in centrosomes (Ohashi et al. (2003) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 307, 915–921). The number of centrosomes of Parg-deficient (Parg^−/−) ES cells was also analyzed in this study and was found to be stable under Parg deficiency. We also examined centrosome numbers in wild-type, Parp-1^−/− and Parg^−/− ES cell lines after treatment with methylmethanesulfonate (MMS) or γ-irradiation. Although a slight increase in the number of centrosomes is observed in each genotype twenty-four hours after treatment with MMS at 50 μM or with γ-irradiation at 1.4 Gy, there was no difference among the genotypes. These results suggest that loss of Parp-1 and Parg is insufficient to induce abnormality in centrosome numbers in ES cells and that ES cells possibly possess a strict mechanism for the maintenance of a normal number of centrosomes.     

Effects of PP4 suppression on the proliferation of MCF7 cells

In mammalian cells, reversible phosphorylation of protein substrates is a major mechanism for many cel-lular processes. Protein kinases and protein phosphata- ses, which catalyze protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation respectively, together with th…     

Potential existence of two independent centrosometargeting domains in PP4

Protein phosphatase 4 (PP4) is an important member in the PPP family of protein Ser/Thr phosphatases. It has been proven to regulate a variety of cellular processes such as centrosome maturation, micro- tubule nucleation, splicesome assembly, and JNK pathway activation. Compared to the crystallized and structurally well defined phosphatase PP1 and PP2B, little is known about the structure of PP4. Besides the conserved motifs characteristic of the PPP family, no information is available on the other domains of PP4. PP4 is reported to localize to the centrosome in many species such as Drosophila, Caenor- habditis elegans and mammalian cells, which suggests a conserved role of PP4 in the regulation of centrosome function. Unlike several other centrosomal proteins, no sequence has been identified for PP4 that can target it to specific centrosomal localization. In this study, we used a combination of PCR mutagenesis and transient expression of GFP-tagged proteins in mammalian cells, and identified two PP4 centrosome-targeting domains of 68―136 and 134―220 aa. These two domains may be associated for appropriate localization to the centrosome. The findings are useful for further elucidating the func- tion of the domains and other structural characteristics of PP4.