Mammalian heat shock protein A4 family ortholog Hsc70Cb is required for two phases of spermatogenesis in D. melanogaster

Abstract

In brief: Hsc70Cb is essential for spermatogonia survival and sperm individualisation in Drosophila. This study highlights the conserved roles of the HSPA4 family across animals and the utility of flies as a model organism for male fertility research. Abstract: Heat shock proteins play essential roles as molecular chaperones, enacting protein folding and preventing protein aggregation. In a previous study, a homozygous non-synonymous genetic variant that was predicted to be damaging was detected in an infertile man in the heat shock protein gene HSPA4L. Here, we used RNA interference in Drosophila melanogaster to explore the role of the heat shock protein A member 4 family (HSPA4) family in ..