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A more recent version of this article appeared on November 1, 2003
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Submitted on April 11, 2003
Revised on July 10, 2003
Accepted on July 14, 2003
1 Department of Cell Biology and Anatomical Sciences, The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education/The City University of New York Medical School, New York NY 10031
* Corresponding author. E-mail address: kier{at}med.cuny.edu.
Nuclear shaping is a critical event during sperm development as demonstrated by the incidence of male infertility associated with abnormal sperm head shaping. Here we demonstrate that mouse and rat spermatids assemble in the subacrosomal space a cytoskeletal scaffold containing F-actin and Sak57, a keratin 5 (K5) ortholog. The cytoskeletal plate, designated acroplaxome, anchors the developing acrosome to the nuclear envelope. The acroplaxome consists of a marginal ring containing K5 10-nm thick filaments and F-actin. The ring is closely associated with the leading edge of the acrosome and to the nuclear envelope during the elongation of the spermatid head. Anchorage of the acroplaxome to the gradually shaping nucleus is not disrupted by hypotonic treatment and brief Triton X-100 extraction. By examining spermiogenesis in the azh mutant mouse, characterized by abnormal spermatid/sperm head shaping, we have determined that a deformity of the spermatid nucleus is restricted to the acroplaxome region. These findings lead to the suggestion that the acroplaxome nucleates an F-actin-keratin-containing assembly with the purpose of stabilizing and anchoring the developing acrosome during spermatid nuclear elongation. The acroplaxome may also provide a mechanical planar scaffold modulating external clutching forces generated by a stack of Sertoli cell F-actin-containing hoops encircling the elongating spermatid nucleus.
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