Aim:Toidentifythegenesspecificallyexpressedinhumanadultandfetaltestesandspermatozoa.Methods:AhumantestiscDNAmicroarraywasestablished.ThenmRNAsofhumanadultandfetaltestisandspermatozoawerepurifiedandprobeswerepreparedbyareversetranscriptionreactionwithmRNAasthetemplate.Themicroarraywashybridizedwithprobesofadultandfetaltestesandspermatozoa.ThenucleicacidsequencesofdifferentiallyexpressedgenesweredeterminedandhomologiesweresearchedinthedatabasesofGenBank.Results:Anovelhumantestis-specificgene,PKH-T,wasidentifiedbyhybridizingadultandfetaltestisandspermatozoaprobeswithahumantestiscDNAmicroarray.ThecDNAofPKH-Twas1069bpinlength.ThecDNAsequenceofthisclonewasdepositedintheGenbank(AY303972)andPKH-TwasalsodeterminedasInterimGenSymbol(Unigene,HS.38041).PKH-TcontainedmostPKHconservedmotif.The239aminoacidsequencesdeducedfromthe719bpopenreadingframe(ORF)hadahomologywiththegenePKH(U89606).PKH-Twasspecificallyandstronglyexpressedinthetestis.ComparisonofthedifferentialexpressionsofPKHandPKH-Tintestesofdifferentdevelop-mentalstagesindicatedthatPKH-Twasexpressedintheadulttestisandspermatozoa,whilePKH,intheadult,fetalandagedtestes.PKH-ThadnoexpressioninthetestisofSertolicellonlyandpartiallyspermatogenicarrestpatients.Conclusion:PKH-Tisagenehighlyexpressedinadulthumantestisandspermatozoa.Itmayplayanimportantroleinspermatogenesisandcouldberelatedtomaleinfertility.
