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Tex101 is essential for male fertility by affecting sperm migration into the oviduct in mice Free
Wei Li1,†, Xue-Jiang Guo2,†, Fei Teng1,3, Xiao-Jun Hou1, Zhuo Lv1, Shu-Ya Zhou1, Ye Bi2, Hai-Feng Wan1, Chun-Jing Feng1,3, Yan Yuan2, Xiao-Yang Zhao1, Liu Wang1, Jia-Hao Sha2,*, and Qi Zhou1,*
1State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
2State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
3University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
*Correspondence to:Qi Zhou, E-mail: qzhou@ioz.ac.cn; Jia-Hao Sha, E-mail: shajh@njmu.edu.cn
J Mol Cell Biol, Volume 5, Issue 5, October 2013, 345-347,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjt031

Sperm transport in the female genital tract is physiologically important for mammalian fertilization. The female reproductive system contains multiple natural selective barriers, such as successful uterotubal junction (UTJ) migration and zona pellucida (ZP) binding, to ensure sperm with normal motility and morphology to transmit into oviduct for fertilization (Yanagimachi, 1994; Ikawa et al., 2010). Tex101 is a glycosylphosphatidyl inositol (GPI)-anchored glycoprotein identified as a molecular marker of germ cells (Kurita et al., 2001). Although there have been indications that the malfunction of Tex101 may affect male fertility (Yin et al., 2009), little is known about its exact physiological function and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Recently, a study showed that Tex101 gene knockout sperm were unable to pass through UTJ or bind to ZP, which led to male infertility (Fujihara et al., 2013). Here, we independently generated Tex101 knockout mice and confirmed the infertile phenotype caused by UTJ migration defect. We also found that Tex101 knockout sperm lost the adhesive ability to the surface of female genital tract. Several members of a disintegrin and metalloprotease (ADAM) transmembrane protein family with cell adhesion ability, including ADAM3, ADAM4, ADAM5, and ADAM6, were lost in Tex101 knockout epididymal sperm. These observations may shed new light on the diagnosis of male infertility and development of contraceptive methods in human.