De Novo Protein Synthesis Occurs Through the Cytoplasmic Translation Machinery in Mammalian Spermatozoa

Abstract

The current hypothesis suggests that translation occurs in capacitated spermatozoa through mitochondrial ribosomes. Mitochondrial translation has several particularities, which rise some questions about how mitochondrial ribosomes can ensure sperm translation activity. Here, we aimed to elucidate if cytoplasmic translation occurs in mammalian spermatozoa. A bioinformatic workflow was performed to identify translation-related proteins in human spermatozoa and their association with cytoplasmic translation. The surface sensing of translation (SUnSET) method was used to measure translation activity in capacitated human and bovine spermatozoa. Two translation inhibitors, cycloheximide (CHX, cytoplasmic) and D-chloramphenicol (D-CP, mitochondrial) were used to identify which ribosomes were active in sperm. To spot newly synthesized proteins, puromycin-peptides were immunoprecipitated and analysed by mass spectrometry. A second approach was performed using translation inhibitors and analysing the sperm proteome by mass spectrometry. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that human spermatozoa possess 510 translation proteins, which were enriched for cytoplasmic mRNA translation. CHX decreased translation activity in mammalian sperm, whereas no effect was observed after D-CP treatment. Nine proteins were immunoprecipitated and identified as newly synthesized in capacitated bovine spermatozoa. CHX and D-CP decreased the level of 22 proteins that were replaced, or de novo translated during capacitation. New proteins were associated with relevant processes for sperm physiology. Both translation inhibitors decreased sperm rapid progressive motility and increased sperm immotility. Our results proved sperm translation occurs through cytoplasmic translation machinery in capacitated bovine and human spermatozoa. These results also support that sperm translation is required during capacitation to produce relevant proteins for sperm functions.

Keywords: capacitation; protein translation; proteomics; spermatozoa; surface sensing of translation (SUnSET).