440. A-kinase anchoring protein 4 in the marsupial
Y. Hu A , H. Yu A , A. J. Pask A , D. A. O.'Brien B , G. Shaw A and M. B. Renfree AA Zoology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic., Australia.
B Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States.
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 20(9) 120-120 https://doi.org/10.1071/SRB08Abs440
Published: 28 August 2008
Abstract
A-Kinase Anchor Protein 4 (AKAP4) is an X-linked member of the AKAP family of scaffold proteins that anchor cAMP-dependent protein kinases and play an essential role in fibrous sheath assembly during spermatogenesis and flagellar function in spermatozoa. Marsupial spermatozoa differ in structural organisation from those of eutherian mammals but data on the molecular control of their structure and function are limited. We therefore cloned and characterised the AKAP4 gene in a marsupial, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii). The gene structure, sequence and predicted protein of AKAP4 were highly conserved with that of eutherian orthologueues and it mapped to the marsupial X-chromosome. There was no AKAP4 expression detected in the developing young and in the adult, expression was limited to the testis with a major transcript of 2.9kb identified by northern blotting. AKAP4 mRNA was detected by in situ hybridisation in the cytoplasm of round and elongated spermatids in the adult testis while its protein was found in the sperm tail from principal piece of the flagellum. This is consistent with its expression in other mammals. Thus this gene appears to have a conserved role in spermatogenesis for at least the last 166 million years of mammalian evolution.
