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Transition proteins replace testis-specific histones and are finally replaced by protamines in the nucleus of germ cells during spermiogenesis. In this study, immunoperoxidase and immunogold localization were used to determine both qualitatively and quantitatively the intracellular distribution of testis-specific histone (H1t), transition protein 1(TP1), and transition protein 2 (TP2) during rat spermatogenesis. H1t labeling was concentrated over heterochromatin in the nucleus of late-pachytene spermatocytes and spermatids up to mid-steps 10. In step 9 spermatids, H1t was confined to the caudal end of the nucleus where heterochromatin was still present, while in early step 10 spermatids, only a few of the nuclei remained caudally labeled. In late step 10 spermatids, a fibrillar chromatin network was distributed throughout the nucleus coincident with the loss of H1t. A statistically significant rise in TP1 and TP2 labeling density over control values was first encountered in the nucleus of step 11 spermatids coincident with the initiation of condensation of the fibrillar chromatin. The TP1 and TP2 labeling density progressively increased in nucleus of step 11-13 spermatids with the apical to caudal condensation of the fibrillar chromatin, In step 13 spermatids, the chromatin was homogeneously condensed throughout the nucleus. In the case of TP1, the nuclear labeling density gradually declined after step 13 and disappeared by step 17. In the case of TP2, the nuclear labeling density disappeared by step 16. This study shows that, coincident with the loss of H1t, the chromatin of the spermatid is reorganized into a fibrillar network, whereas, coincident with the appearance and progressive increase of TP1 and TP2, the fibrillar chromatin condenses in an apical to caudal direction in the nucleus of the spermatid. Thus the remodeling of chromatin structure during spermiogenesis appears to be a two-step process that is sequentially influenced by the loss of spermatid-specific histones and the appearance of transition proteins.

The histones H2B, H3 and H4, the transition protein TP1 and protamine were localised using ultrastructural immunocytochemistry in nuclei of rabbit spermatids and spermatozoa. Histones are present in round spermatid nuclei and are lost during the elongation of nuclei. TP1 and protamine appear simultaneously in all nuclei during this period. TP1 is located at the periphery of chromatin cords, while protamine seems to be located at random in the same cords. TP1 is lost in most elongated spermatids during step 13 of spermiogenesis, and the protamine stays in all sperm nuclei. TP1 remains present in some old spermatids and ejaculated spermatozoa. In the rabbit, 3-6% of sperm nuclei decondense spontaneously. Most are characterised by a retention of TP1. Respective roles of TP1 and the protamine in spermatid nuclear condensation are discussed.

Transition protein 1 (TP1) is a small basic chromosomal protein that appears in mammalian spermatids during the period of chromatin condensation. The gene for TP1 from several species contains an apparent cAMP response element (CRE) in the immediate 5'-flanking region. The recent identification of high expression of the novel CRE-activating protein (CREM tau) in advanced testicular germ cells provided a stimulus to ask whether or not the TP1 CRE is functional. To this end we show both by gel retardation and by footprint assays that TP1 CRE forms specific bound complexes with proteins in whole testis nuclear extracts and that these complexes involve CREM as evidenced by recognition by a specific antibody. In addition, the TP1 CRE forms specific bound complexes with bacterially expressed CREM tau. Finally, the TPI CRE conveys protein kinase A-dependent induction to a linked chloramphenicol acetyl transferase gene when transfected into JEG-3 cells. Accordingly, TP1 is a good candidate for a testis-specific gene subject to CREM tau regulation.

Transition protein 2 (TP2) of the rat was isolated by differential precipitation with trichloroacetic acid, chromatography over Bio-Rex 70, and preparative gel electrophoresis. A polyclonal rabbit antiserum was raised that did not cross-react with unrelated acid-soluble proteins from liver or testes. The antiserum was used to identify TP2-related proteins obtained from testes of mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, and boars by Western blotting. Immunohistochemical techniques were used to localize TP2 in paraffin-embedded testis sections from mice and rats. In both species, TP2 was first detected in spermatids that had essentially completed the morphological change from a round to an elongate nucleus and that were undergoing chromosomal condensation (spermatids of step 13 in rat and step 12 in mouse). TP2 was retained in spermatid nuclei until early step 16 in the rat and step 14 in the mouse. Serial sections of rat testis exposed separately to antisera to TP1 and TP2 showed that the great majority of labeled tubules were reactive to both antisera. However, in occasional tubules, TP1 reactivity was retained in relatively late spermatids that were negative for TP2. Thus both TP1 and TP2 appear in the nucleus essentially simultaneously, in association with the beginning of chromatin condensation and at a point well after much of the nuclear shaping has occurred.

We have isolated a cDNA clone for rat transition protein 1 (TP1), a major chromosomal protein of mammalian spermatids. The clone was identified initially by hybrid selection of TP1 mRNA. The sequence of the 251-nucleotide cDNA includes the entire coding region for the protein, thereby confirming the identity of the clone as well as predicting two changes in the published amino acid sequence.

Spermatid transition protein 1 (TP1) is a 54 amino acid (aa), highly basic chromosomal protein found in mammals during the brief period when histones are being replaced by protamines in the haploid phase of spermatogenesis. Using a cDNA clone as probe, we have isolated the gene (Stp-1) coding for rat TP1 from a population of recombinant bacteriophage lambda. The nucleotide (nt) sequence was established from a point 126 nt upstream from the mRNA cap site to a point about 30 nt downstream from the predicted site of polyadenylation. The gene contains a single intron separating the codon for aa 45 of the mature protein. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences for Stp-1 and the mouse gene coding for protamine P1 suggests a possible evolutionary relationship. Southern blot hybridization to genomic DNA isolated from a panel of mouse-hamster somatic cell hybrids unambiguously mapped Stp-1 to mouse chromosome 1.

Cloned gene sequences have been isolated for two testis-specific chromosomal proteins, one of which, histone (H1t), appears during meiosis, whereas the other, transition protein 1 (TP1), appears only during the later steps of spermatid development. Aspects of the regulation of each gene have been examined. In the case of H1t, analysis of its promoter region shows that it contains excellent matches to each of the four sequence homologies identified for the usual somatic H1 variants, so that the factor(s) that restrict H1t expression to spermatocytes remain a mystery. In the case of TP1, a cDNA clone allowed identification of its message by Northern blots as well as by in situ hybridization. The message appears postmeiotically in late round spermatids but is translationally repressed until the spermatid nucleus begins to condense.

Immunocytochemical localization and in situ hybridization techniques were used to investigate the presence of spermatid nuclear transition protein 1 (TP1) and its mRNA during the various stages of spermatogenesis in the rat. A specific antiserum to TP1 was raised in a rabbit and used to show that TP1 is immunologically crossreactive among many mammals including humans. During spermatogenesis the protein appears in spermatids as they progress from step 12 to step 13, a period in which nuclear condensation is underway. The protein is lost during step 15. An asymmetric RNA probe generated from a TP1 cDNA clone identified TP1 mRNA in late round spermatids beginning in step 7. The message could no longer be detected in spermatids of step 15 or beyond. Thus, TP1 mRNA first appears well after meiosis in haploid cells but is not translated effectively for the several days required for these cells to progress to the stage of chromatin condensation. Message and then protein disappear as the spermatids enter step 15. In agreement with a companion biochemical study (Heidaran, M.A., and W.S. Kistler. J. Biol. Chem. 1987. 262:13309-13315), these results establish that translational control is involved in synthesis of this major spermatid nuclear protein. In addition, they suggest that TP1 plays a role in the completion but not the initiation of chromatin condensation in elongated spermatids.

Nuclear transition protein 2 (TP2) along with TP1 are major basic chromosomal proteins of rat spermatids during the period of transition from histone-associated to protamine-associated DNA. TP2 isolated by reversed phase high pressure liquid chromatography was cleaved with S. aureus V8 protease to yield two fragments. The complete amino acid sequence of the 27 residue peptide assigned to the carboxyl terminus was established. It contains most of the basic residues of the protein and is likely to be a major site of DNA binding. Thus, TP2 is differentiated from core histones in having its basic domain at the carboxyl rather than amino terminal end.

The spermatid transition proteins comprise a set of basic chromosomal proteins that appear during the period when spermatids are undergoing nuclear elongation and condensation, about midway between the end of meiosis and the release of spermatozoa from the seminiferous tubule. The transition proteins replace the histones but are themselves subsequently replaced by protamines, and they are not found in sperm nuclei. We have used a cDNA clone for the smallest transition protein (TP1, 54 amino acids) to show that its message first appears postmeiotically in late round spermatids. Thus production of TP1 is an example of haploid gene expression. The message remains translationally inactive for some 3-4 days before translation occurs in early elongating spermatids. While translationally repressed, TP1 message is nonpolysomal and has a discrete size of about 590 bases, including a 140 residue poly(A) tail. In contrast, polysome-associated message is of heterogeneous size due to variability of poly(A) lengths.