Protamines (salmine prepared from sperm DNA of salmon and clupeine from herring sperm), which are basic peptides rich in arginine, were found to inhibit the proteolytic activity of arginine-specific cysteine protease (RC-protease) from Porphyromonas gingivalis. Lineweaver-Burk plot analysis revealed that the protamines competitively inhibited proteolytic activity with cleavage of benzoyl-L-argi...

The possible rBle of protamines as intermediates in the enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins has held the interest of a number of investigators since the discovery of these basic polypeptides by Miescher (I , 2) in the sperm of fish. This class of polypeptides resembles genuine proteins quite closely with respect to molecular weight (approximately 3000) and presence of peptide linkages connecting t...

Nucleoprotamines are a normal component of human sperm cells. Antibodies against these protamines develop in 22 to 33 per cent of patients undergoing elective vasectomy. These antibodies, in turn, have been shown to cross-react with medicinal protamines, which are extracted commercially from the testes of salmon and certain other fish. This cross-reactivity against protamines raises the possibi...

In typical somatic cells, DNA is tightly organized by histones that are necessary for its proper packaging into the nucleus. In sexually-reproducing animals, the haploid product of male meiosis must be further condensed to fit within sperm heads, thus requiring an even greater degree of packaging. This is accomplished in most organisms by replacing histones with protamines, which allows DNA to ...

We have developed a novel approach for the colorimetric and fluorescent detection of protamines based on an anionic polythiophene derivative. This probe has high sensitivity and selectivity toward protamines with a linear detectable range from 0.1 to 30 μg mL(-1), and can be used for protamine detection in serum samples.

The testis-specific nuclear form of Phospholipid Hydroperoxide Glutathione Peroxidase (nGPx4) is associated with the nuclear matrix during spermiogenesis and is implicated in sperm chromatin condensation. In this study, we have addressed the question whether nGPx4 directly interacts with protamines by transiently sharing a nuclear matrix localization. We first expressed tagged protamine 1-myc a...