Cylicins are a structural component of the sperm calyx being indispensable for male fertility in mice and human

Abstract

Cylicins are testis-specific proteins, which are exclusively expressed during spermiogenesis. In mice and humans, two Cylicins, the gonosomal X-linked Cylicin 1 (<i>Cylc1/CYLC1</i>) and the autosomal Cylicin 2 (<i>Cylc2/CYLC2</i>) genes, have been identified. Cylicins are cytoskeletal proteins with an overall positive charge due to lysine-rich repeats. While Cylicins have been localized in the acrosomal region of round spermatids, they resemble a major component of the calyx within the perinuclear theca at the posterior part of mature sperm nuclei. However, the role of Cylicins during spermiogenesis has not yet been investigated. Here, we applied CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing in zygotes to establish <i>Cylc1-</i> and <i>Cylc2</i>-deficient mouse lines as a model to study the function of these proteins. <i>Cylc1</i> deficiency resulted in male subfertility, whereas <i>Cylc2</i>^-/-, <i>Cylc1</i>^-/y<i>Cylc2</i>^+/-, and <i>Cylc1</i>^-/y<i>Cylc2</i>^-/- males were infertile. Phenotypical characterization revealed that loss of Cylicins prevents proper calyx assembly during spermiogenesis. This results in decreased epididymal sperm counts, impaired shedding of excess cytoplasm, and severe structural malformations, ultimately resulting in impaired sperm motility. Furthermore, exome sequencing identified an infertile man with a hemizygous variant in <i>CYLC1</i> and a heterozygous variant in <i>CYLC2</i>, displaying morphological abnormalities of the sperm including the absence of the acrosome. Thus, our study highlights the relevance and importance of Cylicins for spermiogenic remodeling and male fertility in human and mouse, and provides the basis for further studies on unraveling the complex molecular interactions between perinuclear theca proteins required during spermiogenesis.