Yeast two-hybrid screens imply that GGNBP1, GGNBP2 and OAZ3 are potential interaction partners of testicular germ cell-specific protein GGN1.

Gametogenetin (Ggn) is a testicular germ cell-specific gene specifically expressed from late pachytene spermatocytes through round spermatids. The function of gametogenetin protein 1 (GGN1) remains unknown. Here, we used the yeast two-hybrid approach to look for more GGN1 interacting proteins. We found that gametogenetin binding protein 1 (GGNBP1), gametogenetin binding protein 2 (GGNBP2) and ornithine decarboxylase antizyme 3 (OAZ3) were potential GGN1 interaction partners. We determined the regions mediating the interactions and further showed the interactions between the proteins in mammalian cells by colocalization and coimmunoprecipitation experiments. Our work suggested that GGN1, GGNBP1, GGNBP2 and OAZ3 could be involved in a common process associated with spermatogenesis.