{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["15(1)"],"submitter":["Gottschling DC"],"funding":["Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel"],"pubmed_abstract":["Sexual reproduction requires sperm development, activation and motility. Many of these post-meiotic processes remain incompletely understood. We identified the gene spe-60, which encodes a tau-tubulin kinase with a conserved catalytic HRD motif. Localisation via immunostaining reveals that SPE-60 is present in sperm and dynamically colocalises with membranous organelles (MOs), that store factors essential for activation and fertility. spe-60 null mutants are sterile due to immotile sperm that undergo normal MO-plasma membrane fusion but fail to extend normal pseudopods essential for motility and fertilisation. Furthermore, mutant sperm exhibit arrested spermatocyte development. The functional loss observed in spe-60 null sperm is phenocopied by sperm carrying a CRISPR/Cas-mediated point mutation within the HRD motif. Genetic epistasis places SPE-60 downstream of the serine/threonine kinase SPE-6 in the canonical sperm activation pathway. Thus, SPE-60 is required for sperm development and motility, but not MO fusion. These findings suggest that the HRD-containing kinase SPE-60 fulfils a dual function as a key evolutionarily conserved factor."],"journal":["Scientific reports"],"pagination":["32539"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12436626"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"pubmed_title":["The novel HRD motif kinase SPE-60 is required for sperm development and motility in Caenorhabditis elegans."],"pmcid":["PMC12436626"],"pubmed_authors":["Gottschling DC","Doring F"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"The novel HRD motif kinase SPE-60 is required for sperm development and motility in Caenorhabditis elegans.","description":"Sexual reproduction requires sperm development, activation and motility. Many of these post-meiotic processes remain incompletely understood. We identified the gene spe-60, which encodes a tau-tubulin kinase with a conserved catalytic HRD motif. Localisation via immunostaining reveals that SPE-60 is present in sperm and dynamically colocalises with membranous organelles (MOs), that store factors essential for activation and fertility. spe-60 null mutants are sterile due to immotile sperm that undergo normal MO-plasma membrane fusion but fail to extend normal pseudopods essential for motility and fertilisation. Furthermore, mutant sperm exhibit arrested spermatocyte development. The functional loss observed in spe-60 null sperm is phenocopied by sperm carrying a CRISPR/Cas-mediated point mutation within the HRD motif. Genetic epistasis places SPE-60 downstream of the serine/threonine kinase SPE-6 in the canonical sperm activation pathway. Thus, SPE-60 is required for sperm development and motility, but not MO fusion. These findings suggest that the HRD-containing kinase SPE-60 fulfils a dual function as a key evolutionarily conserved factor.","dates":{"release":"2025-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2025 Sep","modification":"2026-06-01T15:43:41.144Z","creation":"2026-04-08T13:44:11.655Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC12436626","cross_references":{"pubmed":["40954158"],"doi":["10.1038/s41598-025-18696-2"]}}