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Mitochondrial prohibitin and its ubiquitination during crayfish Procambarus clarkii spermiogenesis

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Abstract

Prohibitin (PHB), an evolutionarily conserved mitochondrial membrane protein, is associated with spermatogenesis and sperm quality control in mammals. It is identified as a substrate of ubiquitin and thus may function via a mitochondrial ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. In this study, we examined the localization of PHB during spermiogenesis of the macrura crustacean Procambarus clarkii. We traced phb mRNA’s temporal and spatial expression pattern in spermiogenesis, and found its localization highly coherent with acrosome formation and nuclear shaping, two key events during crustacean spermiogenesis. We further detected the associations of PHB with mitochondria and ubiquitin using immunofluorescent staining. PHB was co-localized with mitochondria through spermiogenesis. PHB as well as mitochondria were co-localized with ubiquitin from the late stage of spermiogenesis, and the co-signals reached their peak in the mature sperm. The results raise the hypothesis that PHB is likely to function in nuclear shaping and acrosome formation in the spermiogenesis of P. clarkii. In addition, it might possess a more profound role in mediating mitochondrial ubiquitination. For the first time this study uncovers the role of PHB in the spermiogenesis of macrura crustacean species.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all members of the Sperm Laboratory in Zhejiang University for providing direct assistance and constructive suggestions for this research. This project was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41276151 and 31072198).

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  1. The Sperm Laboratory, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, 866 Yu Hang Tang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Wei-Lai Dong, Cong-Cong Hou & Wan-Xi Yang

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  1. Wei-Lai Dong
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  2. Cong-Cong Hou
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  3. Wan-Xi Yang
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Correspondence to Wan-Xi Yang.

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Wei-Lai Dong and Cong-Cong Hou contributed equally to this work.

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Dong, WL., Hou, CC. & Yang, WX. Mitochondrial prohibitin and its ubiquitination during crayfish Procambarus clarkii spermiogenesis. Cell Tissue Res 359, 679–692 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-014-2044-0

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