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Mitochondria from ejaculated human spermatozoa do not synthesize proteins.

Authors :
Díez-Sánchez C
Ruiz-Pesini E
Montoya J
Pérez-Martos A
Enríquez JA
López-Pérez MJ
Source :
FEBS letters [FEBS Lett] 2003 Oct 09; Vol. 553 (1-2), pp. 205-8.
Publication Year :
2003

Abstract

Sperm motility is dependent on mitochondrial ATP production that relies on the coordinated expression of the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. It is generally accepted that mammalian ejaculated spermatozoa retain the ability to synthesize mtDNA-encoded proteins but not most of the nuclear ones. This implies an asynchronous regulation of the oxidative phosphorylation-related genes encoded by each genome. Trying to investigate this issue, we unexpectedly found that ejaculated human spermatozoa do not synthesize mtDNA-encoded proteins. Moreover, we estimated that the discrepancy between our observations and those published elsewhere was due to a chloramphenicol-sensitive protein synthesis attributed to mitochondria that instead corresponds to contaminating bacteria.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
0014-5793
Volume :
553
Issue :
1-2
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
FEBS letters
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
14550574
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0014-5793(03)01013-5