Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Implementing Patch Clamp and Live Fluorescence Microscopy to Monitor Functional Properties of Freshly Isolated PKD Epithelium
Published on: September 1, 2015
Functional characterization of PKDREJ, a male germ cell-restricted polycystin
Keith A Sutton1, Melissa K Jungnickel, Christopher J Ward
1Department of Cell Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01655, USA. keith.sutton@umassmed.edu
Abstract:
Polycystin-1 regulates a number of cellular processes through the formation of complexes with the polycystin-2 ion channel or with other signal transduction proteins. Polycystin-1 is expressed in many tissues but other members of this gene family are distributed in a more restricted fashion. PKDREJ expression has been detected only in the mammalian testis, where it is restricted to the spermatogenic lineage and retained in mature sperm. However, the functional characteristics of this protein and its role in sperm biology are not well understood. In this study it is shown that PKDREJ can modulate G protein signaling and associates with several members of the polycystin-2 family. These interactions, as well as polycystin-2 association with TRPC channels, are consistent with a role of this protein in the regulation of the acrosome reaction and in other aspects of sperm physiology.
Related Concept Videos
Pleiotropy
X-Inactivation
Abnormal Proliferation
Genomic Imprinting and Inheritance
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...
Catenins
Catenins in Cell Junctions
Catenins bind to cell adhesion molecules such as cadherins and link them to different cytoskeletal proteins depending on the type of cell junction. At the adherens...
Polytene Chromosomes

