Peptidylarginine deiminase 6 (PAD6) is an enzyme that is uniquely expressed in male and
female germ cells. To study the function of this enzyme in vivo we generated mice deficient
for PAD6. Here we show that inactivation of the PAD6 gene in mice leads to female infertility
whereas male fertility is not affected. The absence of the PAD6 protein and consequently
absence of citrullination activity in oocytes results in dispersal of the cytoskeletal sheets in
oocytes, indicating an essential role of these germ cell-specific structures in zygote/embryo …