The histone demethylase JHDM2A is essential for spermatogenesis in mice
Original article
Okada Y et al. (2007) Histone demethylase JHDM2A is critical for Tnp1 and Prm1 transcription and spermatogenesis. Nature 450: 119–123 PubMed
A research group at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has described a critical role for JHDM2A (JmJC-domain-containing histone demethylase 2A) in spermatogenesis. Okada and colleagues used a loss-of-function mouse model to characterize the expression patterns and protein interactions of JHDM2A.
The group found that mice lacking the functional Jhdm2a gene were infertile and had smaller testes and lower sperm counts than normal mice. The sperm found in the epididymis of mutant mice all had abnormal head shape and nuclear structure, and 98.5% of sperm were immotile. Mice possessing the mutant Jhdm2a gene were also found to show deficient chromatin condensation, an essential stage of sperm maturation; the expression of TNP1 (transition nuclear protein 1) and PRM1 (protamine 1), which have been shown to be required for chromatin condensation, was decreased in Jhdm2a-mutant mice. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis showed that JHDM2A was specifically recruited to the Tnp1 and Prm1 gene regions, suggesting a vital role for JHDM2A in the transcription of these two post-meiotic proteins.
The authors conclude that JHDM2A is essential for viable spermatogenesis in mice, and suggest that the Jhdm2a gene might be important with respect to human infertility syndromes such as azoospermia and globozoospermia.
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Subject areas under which this article appears: Male factor infertility