美國(guó)科學(xué)家說(shuō)他們從線蟲(chóng)體內(nèi)，找出了一種新蛋白對(duì)健康的精子產(chǎn)生致命的傷害,。
??加州大學(xué)伯克利分校的Barbara Meyer和他的同事們說(shuō)精子染色質(zhì)的質(zhì)量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)－DNA圍繞著蛋白纏繞在一起－這是一個(gè)評(píng)定男性不育的重要指標(biāo),。Meyer的研究小組想要通過(guò)測(cè)量染色質(zhì)的結(jié)構(gòu)來(lái)鑒定那些對(duì)精子染色質(zhì)很重要的蛋白。
??他們純化了那些線蟲(chóng)體內(nèi)那些重要的和精子染色質(zhì)相關(guān)的蛋白,，并通過(guò)RNA干擾來(lái)測(cè)試了所有已鑒定的132個(gè)蛋白的功能,。
??研究小組發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些對(duì)DNA包裝，染色體分離和富集至關(guān)重要的蛋白,。
??在一些情況下,，老鼠如果體內(nèi)失去的相似的蛋白后，就會(huì)引起老鼠不育,。這些已知的蛋白可以幫助鑒定不育的原因以及對(duì)男性不育進(jìn)行診斷,，對(duì)男性避孕提供幫助。這些發(fā)現(xiàn)發(fā)表在《自然》雜志的在線網(wǎng)站,。
英文原文：
Worm Sperm Gives Clue to Male Infertility
U.S. scientists say they have used the nematode worm to identify a raft of new proteins vital for healthy sperm production.
Barbara Meyer and colleagues at the University of California-Berkeley said the quality of sperm chromatin -- DNA packaged with associated proteins -- is known to be an important indicator of male fertility. Meyer's team wanted to identify proteins important for sperm chromatin structure.
They purified those proteins uniquely and richly associated with sperm chromatin in the worm Caenorhabditis elegans and tested their function using RNA interference of all 132 proteins identified.
The team found some were vital for DNA packaging, chromosome segregation and fertility.
In some cases, it's already known that disabling the equivalent proteins in mice causes male sterility. That list of proteins may help identify causes of and diagnostic tests for unexplained male infertility in humans or provide targets for male contraceptives.
The findings appear online ahead of publication in a future issue of the journal Nature.
