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A novel posttranslational modification of histone, H3 S-sulfhydration, is down-regulated in asthenozoospermic sperm

Oxidative stress is one of the major causes leading to male infertility including asthenozoospermia. Hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) has been widely recognized to be a potent antioxidant whose role is partially implemented by protein S-sulfhydration. However, protein S-sulfhydration has not been reported i...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Qi, Qi, Pan, Hongjie, Jiang, Ning, Zhang, Meixin, Sun, Shenfei, Wan, Xiaofeng, Zhang, Fangxi, Zhang, Lingling, Diao, Hua, Wang, Jian, Li, Runsheng
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8666411/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34664184
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10815-021-02314-x
Descripción
Sumario:Oxidative stress is one of the major causes leading to male infertility including asthenozoospermia. Hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) has been widely recognized to be a potent antioxidant whose role is partially implemented by protein S-sulfhydration. However, protein S-sulfhydration has not been reported in germ cells. Therefore, we investigated whether asthenozoospermia could be associated with sperm protein S-sulfhydration. S-sulfhydrated proteins in human sperm were enriched via biotin-switch assay and analyzed using LC-MS/MS spectrometry. Two hundred forty-four S-sulfhydrated proteins were identified. Importantly, we validated that sperm histones H3.1 and H3.3 were the S-sulfhydrated proteins. Their S-sulfhydrated amino acid residue was Cysteine111. Abundances of S-sulfhydrated H3 (sH3) and S-sulfhydrated H3.3 (sH3.3) were significantly down-regulated in asthenozoospermic sperm, compared with the fertile controls, and were significantly correlated with progressive motility. Retinoic acid (RA) up-regulated level of sH3.3 in primary round spermatids and the C18-4 cells (a mouse spermatogonial stem cell line). Overexpression of the mutant H3.3 (Cysteine111 was replaced with serine) affected expression of 759 genes and raised growth rate of C18-4 cells. For the first time, S-sulfhydration H3 and H3.3 were demonstrated in the present study. Our results highlight that aberrant S-sulfhydration of H3 is a new pathophysiological basis in male infertility. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10815-021-02314-x.