MR 35. Research progress in the function of CMTM2 in male reproductive system

CMTM2 is a member of CKLF-like MARVEL transmembrance domain containing (CMTM), a novel gene family firstly cloned and identified by Peking University Center for Human Disease Genomics, which maps to chromosome 16q22.1. Almost all members of CMTM are highly expressed in testis. As reported by previous studies in vitro, CMTM2 is highly expressed in testis tissue and mainly exists in the cytoplasm of spermatogonia and the seminiferous tubular fluid. In LNCaP cells, CMTM2 enhances ligand-mediated transactivation of androgen receptor. As detected in the testis tissues of spermatogenesis defects patients, CMTM2-positive cell numbers and mRNA level are decreased significantly with the aggravation of spermatogenesis defect. Especially, CMTM2 is tightly linked to upstream CMTM1 and downstream CMTM3 on chromosome 16. They may interact with each other to play important roles in male reproductive system.