Molecular cloning and expression of a novel alternative splice variant of BRDT gene.

In this study, a human adult testis cDNA microarray was constructed and hybridized with (33)P-labeled human adult testis, embryo testis and sperm cDNA probes, respectively. A novel alternative splice variant of BRDT gene, named BRDT-NY, presumably involved in testicular function was cloned. It was expressed 3.96-fold more in human adult than embryo testis and also expressed in human spermatozoa. Similarly, RT-PCR revealed a differential expression pattern of this gene in human adult testes and fetal testes. The full length of BRDT-NY was 3438 bp and contained a 2883 bp open reading frame, encoding a 960-amino-acid protein. Sequence analysis showed that it has two bromodomains in N-terminal of the protein. Multiple tissue RT-PCR results showed that BRDT-NY was exclusively expressed in testis. mRNA expression of BRDT-NY gene was deleted in some azoospermic patients' testes. These experiments suggested that BRDT-NY gene may have an important role in the process of spermatogenesis and may be correlated with male infertility.