Abstract: This study was aimed to investigate the expression of Wip1 gene and its effect on the fertilization ability in mice,in order to provide a new perspective for further study on the function of Wip1 gene on male reproduction.8-week-old wild type mice from the same environment and genetic background were selected,the expression profile of Wip1 in heart,liver,spleen,lung,kidney,brain and male reproductive organs were analyzed by Real-time quantitative PCR.The distribution of Wip1 protein in testes and sperm was detected by immunofluorescence.Wip1 gene knockout male mice were used as experimental group,and wild type male mice were used as control group,the serum level of testosterone was tested by ELISA.The rates of 2-cell and blastocyst were compared between two groups by in vitro fertilization experiment.The results showed that Wip1 gene was widely expressed in various tissues of wild male mice,and which was higher in male reproductive organs,the expression in testis was the highest,followed by corpus epididymidis,caput epididymidis and cauda epididymidis.Wip1 protein mainly located in elongating spermatids of testes and mature sperm head.ELISA results showed that compared with the wild type male mice,the level of testosterone was extremely significantly decreased in Wip1 gene knockout male mice (P<0.01).In vitro fertilization test results showed that the rates of 2-cell and blastocyst were extremely significantly decreased in Wip1 gene knockout male mice comparing with the wild type mice (P<0.01).In summary,this study found that Wip1 gene knockout could reduce the fertilization ability of male mice,which might be related to the role of Wip1 gene in the process of spermatogenesis.

Key words: Wip1 gene; mice; expression; fertilization