The Study On Expression Characteristics Of Catsper-the Structral Protein Of Sperm Hyperactivation

The basic characteristics of Catsper, a cation channel of sperm which was discovered recently, were explored in this thesis. The expression of Catsper in eight tissues and the relation between its expression and individual development were analyzed by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Its expression in sperm was also determined by immunofluorescen-ce. All of the above was to provide evidence for further research of the mechanism of the regulation of sperm hyperactivation. This thesis includes two sections as follows.In the first section , the expression of Catsper in tissue and sperm were examined respectively. The results indicated that Catsper was exclusively expressed in testis and epididymis, and the abundance of Catsper in epididymis was much larger than that in testis. Furthermore, Catsper was mainly located in the principal piece of spermatozoa tail.In the second section, the expression changes of Catsper in different-aged mice were analyzed by RT-PCR. Catsper gene expression was developmently regulated with a direct correlation between Catsper expression and mouse sexual maturation. The results indicated that the expression of Catsper began from 3 week of age, and the expression amount was much low. Then the expression amount increased significantly till 6 week of age, from which the expression increased gradually into a stationary phase.