Spermatogenesis Associated Protein 3 (SPATA3)

Mtsarg1 (Mus musculus testis and spermatogenesis cell apoptosis-related gene 1) gene with 1103 bp in full length had been cloned previously (Spata3). Multi-tissue RT-PCR results and Northern blot analysis for adult DBA/2 mice showed that Mtsarg1-β and Mtsarg1 mRNAs were specifically expressed in testis at high level. RT-PCR results also showed that Mtsarg1-β and Mtsarg1 mRNAs were not expressed in mouse GC-1 spermatogonia. In situ hybridization revealed that both Mtsarg1 and probably Mtsarg1-β mRNAs were mainly expressed in mouse spermatocytes. Mtsarg1 protein was mainly localized in nucleus while Mtsarg1-β protein was mainly localized in cytoplasm. All these results indicate that Mtsarg1 and Mtsarg1-β may play an important role in mouse testicular function and in spermatocyte development.