Protamine

Protamine 1
Identifiers
SymbolPRM1
NCBI gene5619
HGNC9447
OMIM182880
RefSeqNM_002761
UniProtP04553
Other data
LocusChr. 16 p13.13
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StructuresSwiss-model
DomainsInterPro
Protamine 2
Identifiers
SymbolPRM2
NCBI gene5620
HGNC9448
OMIM182890
RefSeqNM_002762
UniProtP04554
Other data
LocusChr. 16 p13.13
Search for
StructuresSwiss-model
DomainsInterPro

Protamines are small, arginine-rich, nuclear proteins that replace histones late in the haploid phase of spermatogenesis and are believed essential for sperm head condensation and DNA stabilization. They may allow for denser packaging of DNA in the spermatozoon than histones, but they must be decompressed before the genetic data can be used for protein synthesis. However, part of the sperm's genome is packaged by histones (10-15% in humans and other primates) thought to bind genes that are essential for early embryonic development.[1]

Protamine and protamine-like (PL) proteins are collectively known as the sperm-specific nuclear basic proteins (SNBPs). The PL proteins are intermediate in structure between protamine and Histone H1. The C-terminal domain of PL could be the precursor of vertebrate protamine.[2]

  1. ^ Balhorn R (2007). "The protamine family of sperm nuclear proteins". Genome Biology. 8 (9): 227. doi:10.1186/gb-2007-8-9-227. PMC 2375014. PMID 17903313.
  2. ^ Eirín-López JM, Ausió J (October 2009). "Origin and evolution of chromosomal sperm proteins". BioEssays. 31 (10): 1062–70. doi:10.1002/bies.200900050. PMID 19708021. S2CID 17131119.