New member of the guanosine triphosphatase activating protein family in the human epididymis

  1. Xiangqi Li1,2,†,
  2. Qiang Liu2,†,
  3. Shigui Liu1,
  4. Jinsong Zhang2,
  5. Yonglian Zhang2,3,*

Article first published online: 17 OCT 2008

DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-7270.2008.00468.x

Issue

Acta Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica

Acta Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica

Volume 40, Issue 10, pages 855–863, October 2008

Additional Information

How to Cite

Li, X., Liu, Q., Liu, S., Zhang, J. and Zhang, Y. (2008), New member of the guanosine triphosphatase activating protein family in the human epididymis. Acta Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica, 40: 855–863. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7270.2008.00468.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    College of Life Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China

  2. 2

    Shanghai Key Laboratory for Molecular Andrology, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China

  3. 3

    Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research, Shanghai 200032, China

  1. †

    These authors contributed equally to this work

* *Corresponding author: Tel/Fax, 86-21-54921163; E-mail, ylzhang@sibs.ac.cn

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 17 OCT 2008
  2. Article first published online: 17 OCT 2008
  3. Received: April 14, 2008 Accepted: June 10, 2008

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Keywords:

  • epididymis;
  • MacGAP;
  • RhoGAP;
  • signal transduction

The effect of the guanosine triphosphatase activating proteins (GAPs) on spermatogenesis has been studied for years, though no GAPs have been explored in epididymis, an essential organ for sperm maturation. In this study, a new GAP member, designated as MacGAP, was cloned in human epididymis. The Mac GAP geneencodesaprotein of 618 amino acids with a putative size of 70 kDa and harbors the conserved RhoGAP domain. The N-terminal and C-terminal peptides of MacGAP were expressed and their corresponding antisera were prepared. The antisera against N-terminal peptide could detect antigen as low as 0.3 ng, and its specificity was also confirmed. However, the antisera against C-terminal peptide failed to detect its antigen because of its low sensitivity. Immunohistochemistry showed that the MacGAP protein was dependent on epididymis and had a region-specific expression pattern, with high expression in the epithelial cells’ basal section in the caput region. The results have created a foundation for further interpretation of the biological effects of GAPs in sperm maturation.

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