2. Academic Validation
  3. The N-terminal region of HASPIN regulates phosphorylation of AURKA and meiotic progression in spermatocytes

The N-terminal region of HASPIN regulates phosphorylation of AURKA and meiotic progression in spermatocytes

  • Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2025 Aug 28:609:112645. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2025.112645.
Haojie Li 1,  Yaoting Xu 2,  Xinyi Jiang 2,  Jie Ren 3,  Yulian Wang 2,  Xiangzheng Zhang 2,  Mengmeng Gao 2,  Longsheng Zhang 2,  Yue Wang 2,  Zongze Li 2,  Suwei Wang 2,  Tianye Wang 2,  Mengyi Wang 2,  Chenghao Situ 4,  Xuejiang Guo 5,  Hui Zhu 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Medical Research Center, Changzhou Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Changzhou Medical Center, Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, 213023, China.
  • 2 Department of Histology and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, China; State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine and Offspring Health, Department of Histology and Embryology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, China.
  • 3 Reproductive Medicine Center, The First People's Hospital of Lianyungang, Lianyungang, 222061, China.
  • 4 Department of Histology and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, China; State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine and Offspring Health, Department of Histology and Embryology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, China. Electronic address: situchenghao@njmu.edu.cn.
  • 5 Department of Histology and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, China; State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine and Offspring Health, Department of Histology and Embryology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, China. Electronic address: guo_xuejiang@njmu.edu.cn.
  • 6 Department of Histology and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, China. Electronic address: njzhuhui@njmu.edu.cn.
PMID: 40885374 DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2025.112645
Abstract

Protein phosphorylation is an important post-translational modification that plays a critical regulatory role in meiosis. HASPIN, a kinase highly conserved from yeast to mammals, is required for male fertility. In this study, we found that the intrinsically disordered N-terminal domain of HASPIN is also required for this function. Mice with deletion of N-terminal Amino acids (aa) 1-243 of HASPIN exhibited reduced testicular size, sperm count, and fertility. Using immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry and phosphoproteomics analysis, we found that HASPIN could interact with AURKA and regulate its phosphorylation at T279 via its N-terminus. Taken together, our results suggest that the N-terminus of HASPIN regulates AURKA kinase activity to affect male fertility.

Keywords

Aurora A kinase (AURKA); HASPIN; Meiosis; Phosphoproteome; Spermatocyte.

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