Tssk2, a member of the testis-specific serine/threonine kinase (TSSK) family, is expressed predominantly in the testis and is crucial for the formation and function of sperm cells in the mouse. Targeted deletion of Tssk1 and Tssk2 in male chimeric mice caused infertility because of haploinsufficiency of the genes. Therefore, it is reasonable to postulate that mutations in the human homolog TSSK...

Testis-specific serine kinases (TSSKs) are a family of serine/threonine kinases highly expressed in the testes that are responsible for regulating many spermatogenesis-related protein activities. Mutations in this family have a positive relationship with oligospermia and azoospermia in human and mouse. Here, five members of the TSSK family from a Banna mini-pig inbred line (BMI) were cloned, se...

The cytoplasmic chromatoid body (CB) organizes mRNA metabolism and small regulatory RNA pathways, in relation to haploid gene expression, in mammalian round spermatids. However, little is known about functions and fate of the CB at later steps of spermatogenesis, when elongating spermatids undergo chromatin compaction and transcriptional silencing. In mouse elongating spermatids, we detected ac...

Background: Tssk2, a member of the testis specific serine/threonine kinase (TSSK) family, is expressed predominantly in the testis and crucial for the formation and function of the sperm cells in mouse. Targeted deletion of Tssk1 and 2 in male chimeric mice caused infertility due to haploinsufficiency of the genes. Therefore it is reasonable to postulate that mutations in its human homologue TS...

The Dazl gene encodes a germ-cell-specific RNA-binding protein which is essential for spermatogenesis. It has been proposed that this protein (DAZL) binds to RNA in the cytoplasm of germ cells and controls spermatogenesis. Using the specific nucleic acids associated with proteins (SNAAP) technique, we identified 17 target mRNAs bound by mDAZL. Among these transcripts, we focused on TSSK2, which...