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Involvement of a gelsolin-related protein in spermatogenesis of the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris

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Abstract

A gelsolin-related protein was isolated from seminal vesicles of the annelid Lumbricus terrestris. Compared with the isoforms of the gelsolin-related protein previously found in the muscle of the annelid body wall, the isolated protein was assigned to the first isoform (EWAM-P1) because of its electrophoretic mobility, chromatographic elution behaviour, immunological cross-reactivity and identical nucleotide sequence of segments obtained by reverse transcription/polymerase chain reaction. Immunofluorescence studies with smear preparations of developing male germ cells revealed characteristic changes of the local distribution of actin and EWAM-P1 during spermatogenesis. These changes were correlated with the developmental transport processes and structural alterations. F-actin, as revealed by rhodamine-phalloidin staining, formed a toroid-shaped structure in cytoplasmic bridges connecting the germ cells to a central cytophore during the developmental stages. An actin antibody reacting with both G- and F-actin demonstrated that actin was concentrated at the proximal and distal parts of the spermatocytes. EWAM-P1 was also localized in these regions, with intense staining in the distal part of spermatocytes and young spermatids in which the Golgi complex and proacrosome resided. The anti-actin antibody further stained the periphery of the nucleus. This staining gradually reduced during sperm maturation and covered about half of the length of the nucleus in elongated spermatids. Co-localization of EWAM with actin implied a functional significance of this gelsolin-related protein for the rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton during earthworm spermiogenesis.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of Martin Fey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Zoomorphologie, Zellbiologie und Parasitologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Evelyn Krüger & Jochen D’Haese

  2. Biochemische Zellbiologie, Universität Bielefeld, 33501, Bielefeld, Germany

    Horst Hinssen

Authors
  1. Evelyn Krüger
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  2. Horst Hinssen
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  3. Jochen D’Haese
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Correspondence to Jochen D’Haese.

Additional information

E.K. was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (GK 35).

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Krüger, E., Hinssen, H. & D’Haese, J. Involvement of a gelsolin-related protein in spermatogenesis of the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris . Cell Tissue Res 332, 141–150 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-007-0561-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-007-0561-9

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