Expression Profile of a Novel Germ Cell-specific Gene,TSCPA,in Mice and Human

In order to identify novel genes involved in spermatogenesis,testis cDNA samples from Balb/C mice of different postnatal days were hybridized with the whole mouse genome Affymetrix chip to screen the testisspecific genes.The characteristics of the selected genes were analyzed by RT-PCR as well as other bioinformatic tools.A novel differentially expressed testis-specific gene(GenBank Acces-sion No:NM029042) in the developmental stages of testes was identified,and named TSCPA.Cellular mapping prediction of TSCPA indicated that its protein was probably expressed in nuclei,and one putative domain(aa 332-377) was anchoring domain of cAMP-dependent type Ⅱ PK.The result of subcel-lular localization of GFP-TSCPA fusion protein in Cos-7 cells showed that TSCPA protein was expressed in nuclei.RT-PCR analysis revealed that TSCPA was expressed specifically in mouse and human testis.TSCPA gene was expressed weakly in 21-day-old mouse testis and the expression was increased gradually from 38th day to 6th month of mouse testes.No expression of hTSCPA was found in cryptorchidism and Sertoli-cellonly syndrome patients.It was concluded that the expression profile of TSCPA in human and mice indicated that TSCPA might play an important role in spermatogenesis.