Testis-enriched ferlin, FER1L5, is required for Ca2+-activated acrosome reaction and male fertility | Science Advances

Spermatozoa need to undergo an exocytotic event called the acrosome reaction before fusing with eggs. Although calcium ion (Ca ²⁺ ) is essential for the acrosome reaction, its molecular mechanism remains unknown. Ferlin is a single transmembrane protein with multiple Ca ²⁺ -binding C2 domains, and there are six ferlins, dysferlin (DYSF), otoferlin (OTOF), myoferlin (MYOF), fer-1–like 4 (FER1L4), FER1L5, and FER1L6, in mammals. Dysf , Otof , and Myof knockout mice have been generated, and each knockout mouse line exhibited membrane fusion disorders such as muscular dystrophy in Dysf , deafness in Otof , and abnormal myogenesis in Myof . Here, by generating mutant mice of Fer1l4 , Fer1l5 , and Fer1l6 , we found that only Fer1l5 is required for male fertility. Fer1l5 mutant spermatozoa could migrate in the female reproductive tract and reach eggs, but no acrosome reaction took place. Even a Ca ²⁺ ionophore cannot induce the acrosome reaction in Fer1l5 mutant spermatozoa. These results suggest that FER1L5 is the missing link between Ca ²⁺ and the acrosome reaction.