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Protein identified in mice sperm formation

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Oct. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say a protein known to play a role in blood clotting and other cell functions is also critical for proper sperm formation in mice.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine found male mice missing both copies of the gene CIB1, which produces the protein, have testes about half the normal size and produce no mature sperm.

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The scientists also discovered female mice missing CIB1 were fertile, as were males missing only one copy of the CIB1 gene.

Mice, as humans, have two copies of every gene -- one from each parent.

The serendipitous discovery occurred when lead study author Weiping Yuan, intending to study CIB1's role in blood clotting, bred mice missing the CIB1 gene. All male mice bred without both copies of the gene were infertile, said Yuan, an assistant professor of pharmacology.

Yuan says CIB1 joins a growing list of fertility genes discovered during the course of mice studies of diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

The results of the research appear online in advance of print publication in the journal Molecular and Cell Biology.

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