Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

Nature Research, Scientific Reports, 1(8), 2018

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-21165-8

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A lumenal interrupted helix in human sperm tail microtubules

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Postprint: archiving forbidden
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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

AbstractEukaryotic flagella are complex cellular extensions involved in many human diseases gathered under the term ciliopathies. Currently, detailed insights on flagellar structure come mostly from studies on protists. Here, cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) was performed on intact human spermatozoon tails and showed a variable number of microtubules in the singlet region (inside the end-piece). Inside the microtubule plus end, a novel left-handed interrupted helix which extends several micrometers was discovered. This structure was named Tail Axoneme Intra-Lumenal Spiral (TAILS) and binds directly to 11 protofilaments on the internal microtubule wall, in a coaxial fashion with the surrounding microtubule lattice. It leaves a gap over the microtubule seam, which was directly visualized in both singlet and doublet microtubules. We speculate that TAILS may stabilize microtubules, enable rapid swimming or play a role in controlling the swimming direction of spermatozoa.