ODF1 explained

Outer dense fiber protein 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ODF1 gene.^{[1] [2]}

The outer dense fibers are cytoskeletal structures that surround the axoneme in the middle piece and principal piece of the sperm tail. The fibers function in maintaining the elastic structure and recoil of the sperm tail as well as in protecting the tail from shear forces during epididymal transport and ejaculation. Defects in the outer dense fibers lead to abnormal sperm morphology and infertility. The human outer dense fibers contains at least 10 major proteins and this gene encodes the main protein.

Further reading

• Kierszenbaum AL . Keratins: unraveling the coordinated construction of scaffolds in spermatogenic cells . Mol. Reprod. Dev. . 61 . 1 . 1–2 . 2002 . 11774369 . 10.1002/mrd.1124 . 28475473 .
• Henkel R, Stalf T, Miska W . Isolation and partial characterization of the outer dense fiber proteins from human spermatozoa . Biol. Chem. Hoppe-Seyler . 373 . 8 . 685–9 . 1992 . 1418683 . 10.1515/bchm3.1992.373.2.685 .
• Hofferbert S . A homozygous deletion of 27 basepairs in the coding region of the human outer dense fiber protein gene does not result in a pathologic phenotype . Hum. Mol. Genet. . 2 . 12 . 2167–2170 . 1994 . 8111388 . 10.1093/hmg/2.12.2167 . vanc. Burfeind P . Hoyer-Fender S . 3 . Lange . Ricarda . Haldl . Gerhard . Engel . Wolfgang .
• Burmester S, Hoyer-Fender S . Transcription and translation of the outer dense fiber gene (Odf1) during spermiogenesis in the rat. A study by in situ analyses and polysome fractionation . Mol. Reprod. Dev. . 45 . 1 . 10–20 . 1997 . 8873064 . 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2795(199609)45:1<10::AID-MRD2>3.0.CO;2-V . 26075182 .
• Shao X, van der Hoorn FA . Self-interaction of the major 27-kilodalton outer dense fiber protein is in part mediated by a leucine zipper domain in the rat . Biol. Reprod. . 55 . 6 . 1343–1350 . 1997 . 8949892 . 10.1095/biolreprod55.6.1343 . free .
• Shao X . Interactional cloning of the 84-kDa major outer dense fiber protein Odf84. Leucine zippers mediate associations of Odf84 and Odf27 . J. Biol. Chem. . 272 . 10 . 6105–6113 . 1997 . 9045620 . 10.1074/jbc.272.10.6105 . vanc. Tarnasky HA . Schalles U . 3 . Oko . R . Van Der Hoorn . FA . free.
• Shao X . Spag4, a novel sperm protein, binds outer dense-fiber protein Odf1 and localizes to microtubules of manchette and axoneme . Dev. Biol. . 211 . 1 . 109–123 . 1999 . 10373309 . 10.1006/dbio.1999.9297 . vanc. Tarnasky HA . Lee JP . 3 . Oko . R . Van Der Hoorn . FA . free .
• Petersen C, Füzesi L, Hoyer-Fender S . Outer dense fibre proteins from human sperm tail: molecular cloning and expression analyses of two cDNA transcripts encoding proteins of approximately 70 kDa . Mol. Hum. Reprod. . 5 . 7 . 627–635 . 1999 . 10381817 . 10.1093/molehr/5.7.627 . free .
• Shao X, Xue J, van der Hoorn FA . Testicular protein Spag5 has similarity to mitotic spindle protein Deepest and binds outer dense fiber protein Odf1 . Mol. Reprod. Dev. . 59 . 4 . 410–416 . 2001 . 11468777 . 10.1002/mrd.1047 . 13590694 . free .
• Strausberg RL . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–16903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . vanc. Feingold EA . Grouse LH . 3 . Derge . JG . Klausner . RD . Collins . FS . Wagner . L . Shenmen . CM . Schuler . GD . 2002PNAS...9916899M . free .
• Zarsky HA, Tarnasky HA, Cheng M, van der Hoorn FA . Novel RING finger protein OIP1 binds to conserved amino acid repeats in sperm tail protein ODF1 . Biol. Reprod. . 68 . 2 . 543–552 . 2003 . 12533418 . 10.1095/biolreprod.102.009076 . 3158802.
• Bhullar B . Association of kinesin light chain with outer dense fibers in a microtubule-independent fashion . J. Biol. Chem. . 278 . 18 . 16159–16168 . 2003 . 12594206 . 10.1074/jbc.M213126200 . vanc. Zhang Y . Junco A . 3 . Oko . R . Van Der Hoorn . FA . 3178653. free .
• Gerhard DS . The status, quality, and expansion of the NIH full-length cDNA project: the Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC) . Genome Res. . 14 . 10B . 2121–2127 . 2004 . 15489334 . 10.1101/gr.2596504 . 528928 . vanc. Wagner L . Feingold EA . 3 . Shenmen . CM . Grouse . LH . Schuler . G . Klein . SL . Old . S . Rasooly . R .

Notes and References

1. Gastmann O, Burfeind P, Gunther E, Hameister H, Szpirer C, Hoyer-Fender S . Sequence, expression, and chromosomal assignment of a human sperm outer dense fiber gene . Mol Reprod Dev . 36 . 4 . 407–418 . Mar 1994 . 8305202 . 10.1002/mrd.1080360402 . 2447785 .
2. Web site: Entrez Gene: ODF1 outer dense fiber of sperm tails 1.