GASZ Is Essential for Male Meiosis and Suppression of Retrotransposon Expression in the Male Germline

Abstract

Nuage are amorphous ultrastructural granules in the cytoplasm of male germ cells as divergent as Drosophila, Xenopus, and Homo sapiens. Most nuage are cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein structures implicated in diverse RNA metabolism including the regulation of PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) synthesis by the PIWI family (i.e., MILI, MIWI2, and MIWI). MILI is prominent in embryonic and early post-natal germ cells in nuage also called germinal granules that are often associated with mitochondria and called intermitochondrial cement. We find that GASZ (Germ cell protein with Ankyrin repeats, Sterile alpha motif, and leucine Zipper) co-localizes with MILI in intermitochondrial cement. Knockout of Gasz in mice results in a dramatic downregulation of MILI, and phenocopies the zygotene–pachytene spermatocyte block and male sterility defect observed in MILI null mice. In Gasz null testes, we observe increased hypomethylation and expression of retrotransposons similar to MILI null testes. We also find global shifts in the small RNAome, including down-regulation of repeat-associated, known, and novel piRNAs. These studies provide the first evidence for an essential structural role for GASZ in male fertility and epigenetic and post-transcriptional silencing of retrotransposons by stabilizing MILI in nuage.

Author Summary

Many aspects of RNA processing are essential for or prominent in the differentiation of germ cells. Some RNA metabolism in animal germ cells is associated with physical structures surrounding the cell nucleus called nuage. Nuage has a distinct granular appearance prior to the meiotic divisions with unclear functions. We have identified a protein called GASZ, which plays a structural role in this early nuage. In mice lacking GASZ, retrotransposons—endogenous viral-like particles—become released from their typical repressed state in the germline by the loss of small RNAs called piRNAs, resulting in DNA damage and delayed germ cell maturation. Protection of the germline from genetic intruders may require the association of piRNA-synthesizing enzymes and other components of this nuage structure through direct or indirect associations with GASZ. Mutations in GASZ and other nuage components may contribute to infertility in men who do not produce spermatozoa.