The correlation of anti-sperm antibodies with cases of unexplained infertility implicates a role for these antibodies in blocking fertilization. Improved diagnosis and treatment of immunologic infertility, as well as identification of proteins for targeted contraception, are dependent on the identification and characterization of relevant sperm antigens. The protein encoded by this gene is recognized by sperm agglutinating antibodies from an infertile woman. This protein is localized in germ cells of the testis at all stages of spermatogenesis and is localized to the acrosomal region of mature spermatozoa. This protein interacts with ACT (activator of CREM in testis) and may play a role in CREM (cAMP response element modulator)-ACT-mediated gene transcription during spermatogenesis. This protein may also play a role in spermatogenesis by regulating microtubule formation and cell division. Alternatively spliced variants that encode different protein isoforms have been described but the full-length sequences of only two have been determined. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2012]
Transcription factors with Perturb-seq knockdown data for SPAG8. The Binding column indicates whether any binding evidence exists for this TF–gene pair (ChIP-seq or motif footprint peaks). The Mean coef is the average Perturb-seq regression coefficient across active gRNAs (positive = SPAG8 upregulated upon KD; negative = downregulated). The Outlier column indicates whether this gene is in the top or bottom 5% of all TF knockdown effects.
| TF | Mean coef | Binding | Outlier | TF→Gene link |
|---|
Open chromatin peaks (ATAC-seq) in the genomic neighbourhood of SPAG8, linked by TSS proximity or chromatin conformation (Multiome / HiCAR). Each element overlaps at least one TF ChIP-seq binding site — the TFs column shows how many distinct TFs bind that element.
| Accessibility | Element | Dist. to TSS | Link type | TFs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| chr9:35,811,906–35,812,486 | at TSS | At TSS | 610 | |
| chr9:35,814,402–35,815,681 | 2.1 kb | Proximal (<10kb) | 896 |
Genomic view of the SPAG8 locus showing ATAC-seq accessibility and RNA-seq expression across the ESC → DE time course, together with TF binding peaks and element-to-TSS loop connections.