ArticleBiology of reproduction2009
The glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored serine protease PRSS21 (testisin) imparts murine epididymal sperm cell maturation and fertilizing ability.
Article in Biology of reproduction, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 95 citations in OpenAlex.
- Research progress on serine proteases in the field of male reproduction: a narrative review.Translational andrology and urology · 2026Review
- The spermatozoon neck role in infertility and intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcomes.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2026Review
- PRSS38 Is a Novel Sperm Serine Protease Involved in Human and Mouse Fertilization.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Molecular models of the sperm head-tail coupling apparatus.Journal of cell science · 2025Review
- GPI-anchored serine proteases: essential roles in development, homeostasis, and disease.Biological chemistry · 2025Review
- METH exposure alters sperm DNA methylation in F0 mice and mPFC transcriptome in male F1 mice.Psychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Spem2, a novel testis-enriched gene, is required for spermiogenesis and fertilization in mice.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2024Article
- SYPL1 defines a vesicular pathway essential for sperm cytoplasmic droplet formation and male fertility.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Intersection of Coagulation and Fibrinolysis by the Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-Anchored Serine Protease Testisin.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Two acquired mouse Y chromosome-linked genes, Prssly and Teyorf1, are dispensable for male fertility‡.Biology of reproduction · 2022Article
- Semen parameters are seriously affected in acephalic spermatozoa syndrome.Basic and clinical andrology · 2022Article
- Species Persistence with Hybridization in Toad-Headed Lizards Driven by Divergent Selection and Low Recombination.Molecular biology and evolution · 2022Article
- Proteolysis in Reproduction: Lessons From Gene-Modified Organism Studies.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Review
- Review
- The missing linker between SUN5 and PMFBP1 in sperm head-tail coupling apparatus.Nature communications · 2021Article
- PRSS50 is a testis protease responsible for proper sperm tail formation and function.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2021Article
- PRSS55 plays an important role in the structural differentiation and energy metabolism of sperm and is required for male fertility in mice.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2021Article
- SUN5 Interacting With Nesprin3 Plays an Essential Role in Sperm Head-to-Tail Linkage: Research on Sun5 Gene Knockout Mice.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021Article
- Role of the Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-Anchored Protein TEX101 and Its Related Molecules in Spermatogenesis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Review
- Prss55 but not Prss51 is required for male fertility in mice†.Biology of reproduction · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
An estimated 25%-40% of infertile men have idiopathic infertility associated with deficient sperm numbers and quality. Here, we identify the membrane-anchored serine protease PRSS21, also known as testisin, to be a novel proteolytic factor that directs epididymal sperm cell maturation and sperm-fertilizing ability. PRSS21-deficient spermatozoa show decreased motility, angulated and curled tails, fragile necks, and dramatically increased susceptibility to decapitation. These defects reflect aberrant maturation during passage through the epididymis, because histological and electron microscopic structural analyses showed an increased tendency for curled and detached tails as spermatozoa transit from the corpus to the cauda epididymis. Cauda epididymal spermatozoa deficient in PRSS21 fail to mount a swelling response when exposed to hypotonic conditions, suggesting an impaired ability to respond to osmotic challenges facing maturing spermatozoa in the female reproductive tract. These data suggest that aberrant regulation of PRSS21 may underlie certain secondary male infertility syndromes, such as "easily decapitated" spermatozoa in humans.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.