Background
Sperm is formed through spermiogenesis, a highly complex process involving chromatin condensation that
Conclusions
Our findings indicate that Tssa is indispensable in male fertility and has critical roles in post-transcriptional regulations by interacting with Miwi during spermiogenesis.
Results
Here we report a Miwi-interacting testis-specific and spermiogenic arrest protein, Ck137956, which we rename Tssa. Deletion of Tssa led to male sterility and absence of sperm formation. The spermiogenesis arrested at the round spermatid stage and numerous spermiogenic mRNAs were down-regulated in Tssa-/- mice. Deletion of Tssa disrupted the localization of Miwi to chromatoid body, a specialized assembly of cytoplasmic messenger ribonucleoproteins (mRNPs) foci present in germ cells. We found that Tssa interacted with Miwi in repressed mRNPs and stabilized Miwi-interacting spermiogenesis-essential mRNAs. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that Tssa is indispensable in male fertility and has critical roles in post-transcriptional regulations by interacting with Miwi during spermiogenesis.