TY  - EJOU
AU  - HAO, SHUANG-LI 
AU  - NI, FEI-DA 
AU  - WEI, BANG-HONG 
AU  - LI, ZHEN-FANG 
AU  - YANG, TONG 
AU  - YANG, WAN-XI 

TI  - Es-ATG7 is required for spermatogenesis of <i>Eriocheir sinensis</i> and modulates p53-dependent apoptosis in germ cells
T2  - BIOCELL

PY  - 2021
VL  - 45
IS  - 4
SN  - 1667-5746

AB  - Spermatogenesis is a complicated and highly regulated male gamete differentiation process that begins with the proliferation and differentiation of spermatogonia to the release of the mature spermatozoa. The autophagy-related gene <i>atg7</i> has been reported as closely related to spermatogenesis and communication of Sertoli cell-germ cells in mice, including acrosome biogenesis, sperm flagellum development, and ectoplasmic specialization assembly. However, the function of es-ATG7 and its molecular regulatory mechanism during spermatogenesis in Crustacea remain largely unknown. Here, we cloned and identified <i>es-atg7</i> from the testes of the Chinese mitten crabs <i>Eriocheir sinensis</i> and found that the expression of <i>es-atg7</i> was relatively high in testes through semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The dynamic localization of es-ATG7 detected by immunofluorescence may convey information about its role in the spermatogenesis of <i>E. sinensis</i>. Furthermore, a knockdown of <i>es-atg7</i> revealed that the malformed sperm with irregular sperm shape or loose nuclear cup and germ cell apoptosis were increased significantly. Accompanying this, we found an up-regulated expression of es-p53 during spermatogenesis in <i>es-atg7</i> knockdown groups. Altogether, our results indicate that es-ATG7 plays an essential role during spermatogenesis of <i>E. sinensis</i>, and we demonstrated that es-ATG7 acts as an antagonist for p53-dependent apoptosis induction in this process.
KW  - Es-ATG7; Spermatogenesis; Es-p53; Apoptosis; <i>Eriocheir sinensis</i>

DO  - 10.32604/biocell.2021.015178