PRKCQ Is Dispensable for Spermatogenesis in Mice

Yu Chen; Hong Chen; Zhongyan Han; Yiqiang Cui; Chenghao Situ; Yaling Qi; Qing Cheng; Yan Li

doi:10.1002/cbin.70014

PRKCQ Is Dispensable for Spermatogenesis in Mice

Cell Biol Int. 2025 May;49(5):522-533. doi: 10.1002/cbin.70014. Epub 2025 Mar 7.

Authors

Yu Chen^{1

2}, Hong Chen², Zhongyan Han³, Yiqiang Cui², Chenghao Situ², Yaling Qi², Qing Cheng⁴, Yan Li³

Affiliations

¹ Medical Research Center, Changzhou Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Changzhou Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine and Offspring Health, Department of Histology and Embryology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
³ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Sir Run Run Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
⁴ Women's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Women and Children's Healthcare Hospital, Nanjing, China.

PMID: 40051302
DOI: 10.1002/cbin.70014

Abstract

Protein kinase C (PKC) family is evolutionally conserved and involved in various signaling cascades in all cells. Of the family, PRKCQ is dominatingly expressed in testis, however, its molecular functionality in spermatogenesis and male fertility remains unclear. To evaluate the role of PRKCQ in spermatogenesis, Prkcq knockout mice were generated using CRISPR/Cas9 system. Histological and immunofluorescence assays by different markers were employed to assess the testicular cells variation. Sperm parameters were analyzed by computer-assisted sperm analyzer. qPCR assay was used to examine the expression levels of other PKC family genes. We found that PRKCQ was conserved throughout evolution and highly expressed in testis. Prkcq^-/- mice were successfully generated and developed viably. Normal fertility was observed in Prkcq^-/- males. Prkcq^-/- mice exhibited no defects in spermatogenic cells and mature sperm were full in epididymis. Furthermore, there were no differences in sperm motility and progressive motility between Prkcq^-/- males and controls. Our findings report a detailed phenotypic analysis of Prkcq^-/- males and indicate that PRKCQ is not required for spermatogenesis in male mice, which can provide basic information for other researchers.

Keywords: PRKCQ; kinase; male fertility; spermatogenesis.

MeSH terms

Animals
Fertility
Male
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Knockout
Protein Kinase C* / genetics
Protein Kinase C* / metabolism
Sperm Motility
Spermatogenesis* / genetics
Spermatogenesis* / physiology
Spermatozoa / metabolism
Testis / metabolism

Substances

Protein Kinase C

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82371623, 82401873), Science and Technology Project of Changzhou Municipal Health Commission (ZD202327, QN202330), Changzhou Science and Technology Program (CJ20240088), Project of Changzhou Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University (CMCB202324), Science and Technology Development Fund of Nanjing Medical University (NMUB20230057) and Changzhou Key Laboratory of Maternal and Child Health Medicine (Grant No. CM20240013).