Differential expression of protamine 1 and 2 genes in mature spermatozoa of normal and motility impaired semen producing crossbred Frieswal (HF×Sahiwal) bulls

• Published in: Research in veterinary science 2013-04, Vol.94 (2), p.256-262
• Main Authors: Ganguly, Indrajit, Gaur, G.K., Kumar, Sushil, Mandal, D.K., Kumar, Mahesh, Singh, Umesh, Kumar, Sunil, Sharma, Arjava
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; buffaloes; bulls; Cattle - genetics; Cattle - physiology; centrifugation; chemistry; complementary DNA; Crossbred bull; crossbreds; DNA primers; epithelial cells; gene expression regulation; Gene Expression Regulation - physiology; Genes; genetic markers; Infertility; leukocytes; Male; messenger RNA; Motility; pellets; PRM gene expression; Protamines - genetics; Protamines - metabolism; Proteins; quantitative polymerase chain reaction; Real time PCR; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction - veterinary; reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; semen; Semen Analysis; Seminal parameters; somatic cells; Sperm; Sperm Motility - physiology; spermatogenesis; Spermatozoa; Spermatozoa - physiology; Veterinary medicine
• ISSN: 0034-5288; 1532-2661
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2012.09.001

Mature spermatozoa contain thousands of mRNA transcripts. These untranslated mRNA may perhaps serve as a “footprint” of spermatogenesis since many of them might directly or indirectly be involved in fertilization, early embryo cleavage, poor semen quality and fertility. In this study, we tried to isolate high-quality RNA from mature spermatozoa and to monitor the expression profile of protamine 1 (PRM1) and protamine 2 (PRM2) gene in ejaculated spermatozoa of normal (good, % initial progressive motility: 57.61±1.41, n=9) and motility impaired (poor, % initial progressive motility: 18.45±1.61, n=8) crossbred Frieswal (HF×Sahiwal) bulls semen using real time quantitative PCR. Semen samples were subjected to discontinuous (45:90) Percoll gradient centrifugation, specifically to eliminate damaged spermatozoa and contaminating somatic cells. Total RNA was extracted from sperm pellets and cDNA was synthesized. Furthermore, the absence of contamination of germ cells, epithelial cells and leucocytes in all the RNA extractions was tested by RT-PCR targeting specific molecular markers like KIT, CDH1 and CD4, respectively. The presence of transcripts like PRM1, PRM2, DAZL, and PPIA were demonstrated in ejaculated spermatozoa using appropriate PCR primers without RNA amplification. Expression of PRM1 and PRM2 genes were evaluated by real time quantitative PCR using TaqMan chemistry, where PPIA was used as internal control. The cDNA synthesized from normal buffalo testicular tissue was served as positive control. The good quality semen producing group showed significantly higher level of PRM1 mRNAs expression as compared to the poor quality semen producers (P0.05).