Disruption of murine Tcte3-3 induces tissue specific apoptosis via co-expression of Anxa5 and Pebp1

[Display omitted] •Tcte3 (T-complex testis expressed 3) is an accessory component of axonemal and cytoplasmic dynein which expresses predominantly in meiotic and postmeiotic germ cells.•2D-gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry and qRT–PCR analyses were performed to elucidate the differential expression of genes, in both wild-type and homozygous Tcte3-3 mice.•In an effort to identify the possible role of Tcte3 in sperm development, we employed a set of experimental and in-silico based approaches.•Our findings elucidated several co-expressed partners of Tcte3 including Anxa5 and Pebp1, whose functional coherence may help in better understanding of apoptotic induction.•A complete understanding of controlling factors which have implications in regulating tissue-specific Tcte3 expression would provide additional insights into the gene control events.•Our data would contribute to a better understanding of testes-specific transcriptional control of genes involved in apoptosis by addressing the cooperative influence of diverse regulatory partners. Programmed cell death or apoptosis plays a vital physiological role in the development and homeostasis. Any discrepancy in apoptosis may trigger testicular and neurodegenerative diseases, ischemic damage, autoimmune disorders and many types of cancer. Tcte3 (T-complex testis expressed 3) is an accessory component of axonemal and cytoplasmic dynein which expresses predominantly in meiotic and postmeiotic germ cells. It plays an essential role during spermatogenesis; however, to explore its diverse and complex functioning in male germ cell apoptosis, requires further prosecution. Here, 2D-gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry and qRT–PCR analyses were performed to elucidate the differential expression of genes, in both wild-type and homozygous Tcte3-3 mice. We observed an increased expression of Tcte3 in homozygotes as compared to wild-type testes. Perpetually, an increased expression of Anxa5 and Pebp1, while a lower expression of Rsph1 was detected in Tcte3-3−/− mice. We propose that over-expression of Pebp1 and Anxa5 in Tcte3-3−/− testes might be due to increased apoptosis. To evaluate this possibility, testes specific microarray data set extracted from NCBI gene ontology omnibus (GEO) was used to cluster the possible co-expression partners of Tcte3. Further functional coherence of compiled candidate genes was monitored computationally by studying the common TFBS overlapped at the regulatory regions. Differential expr