Cysteine rich secretory proteins in reproduction and venom

The cysteine rich secretory proteins (Crisp) are predominantly found in the mammalian male reproductive tract and in the venom of reptiles. Crisps are two domain proteins with a structurally similar yet evolutionarily diverse N-terminal domain and a characteristic cysteine rich C-terminal domain which we refer to as the Crisp domain. Since their identification 30 years ago Crisp research in mammals has focused on the characterisation of their expression localization to infer function. While no doubt important observations, these have not substantially led to an understanding of the biochemical activity of the Crisps and their role in sperm function or fertilisation. Recently, we demonstrated that the Crisp-2 Crisp domain has a structure similar to ion channel toxins ShK and BgK and was itself able to regulate Ca2+ flux through ryanodine receptors. These data build upon the previous characterizations of reptile venom Crisps as regulators of several types of ion channels and permits for the first time a dissection of the biochemical activity of mammalian Crisps.