Identification and characterization of the BGR-like gene with a potential role in human testicular development/spermatogenesis

摘要

Aim: To investigate the roles of the BGR-like gene in testicular development/spermatogenesis. Methods: A human testis eDNA microarray was hybridized with probes from human adult testes and embryo testes. The differentially expressed clones were sequenced and analyzed. Expression of the BGR-like gene was analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: A new gene exhibiting 50-fold difference in expression level between adult and fetal human testes was cloned and named the BGR-like gene. The cDNA consisted of 2500nucleotides and had an open reading frame of 1437 nucleotides encoding a putative protein of 497 amino acid residues.Homologous comparison showed that the BGR-like gene was a new alternative splicing variant of the BGR gene and had sequence homology with the bubblegum gene of human, mouse, rat and Drosophilia. Protein motif analysis of the BGR-like gene revealed that it contained a conserved adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-binding domain and a fatty acyl-CoA synthetase signature motif which existed in all acyl-CoA synthetases. The BGR-like gene transcript was imperceptibly expressed in human fetal testes, highly in human adult testes and moderately in elderly testes and human Leydig cells. RT-PCR-based tissue distribution experiments showed that the BGR-like gene was exclusively expressed in testes and was a testes-specific isoform of the BGR gene. A BGR-like gene transcript was not detected in some azoospermic testes. Conclusion: The BGR-like gene may play an important role in spermatogenesis/testicular development and may be correlated with male infertility.