Sperm membrane proteome in wild Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) and Sika deer (Cervus nippon)

Whereas recent advances in proteome-related techniques have accumulated a lot of information about sperm proteins in model animals, the information in non-model wildlife species is absolutely deficient, although this knowledge would be valuable to regulate wildlife overabundance. To characterize the repertoires of sperm membrane proteins in Japanese overpopulated wildlife, our study focuses on the following two species: Macaca fuscata and Cervus nippon. We enriched sperm membrane proteins by the phase partitioning with Triton X-114, and then separated them by two-dimensional electrophoresis, and, finally, they were comprehensively identified by peptide mass fingerprinting. Sperm membrane proteins were successfully enriched. They included some proteins with unknown function and fertility-related proteins that work in sperm development, motility, capacitation, transport, protection, acrosome reaction, and fertilization. Additionally, beta-defensin 126 and epithelial chloride channel were strongly detected in M. fuscata but not in C. nippon, whereas lactadherin and NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase 1 were strongly detected in C. nippon alone. This study is an initiative case showing that the sperm of wildlife conserve major fertility-related proteins, but express some proteins in a species-specific manner. In the development of a practical method for fertility control, this aspect may be taken into consideration.