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Identification of G protein‐coupled estrogen receptor in human and pig spermatozoa
Author(s) -
Rago V.,
Giordano F.,
Brunelli E.,
Zito D.,
Aquila S.,
Carpino A.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of anatomy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.932
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1469-7580
pISSN - 0021-8782
DOI - 10.1111/joa.12183
Subject(s) - gper , estrogen receptor , biology , western blot , sperm , estrogen , receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , immunofluorescence , andrology , endocrinology , gene , genetics , antibody , medicine , cancer , breast cancer
Estrogens are known to influence functional properties of mammalian spermatozoa inducing rapid responses through the classical estrogen receptors ( ER α and ER β). Recently, the G protein‐coupled estrogen receptor ( GPER) has been identified as mediator of fast non‐genomic estrogen effects in different cells. This work investigated the expression of GPER in human and pig spermatozoa using immunofluorescence, W estern b lot analysis and RT ‐ PCR . GPER was found to be confined to the mid‐piece of human sperm cells, whereas it was detected in the acrosomal region, the equatorial segment and the mid‐piece of pig spermatozoa. Furthermore, in the male gametes of both species, the immunoblots of sperm extracts revealed a band at ~42 kDa, consistent with the GPER molecular weight, and RT ‐ PCR detected the GPER transcripts. This is the first report demonstrating the expression of GPER in human and pig mature sperm cells and evidencing its species‐specific cellular localization.