Zcwpw1, with no common aliases provided, is an essential factor in meiotic processes. It is recruited to recombination hotspots by PRDM9 and plays a crucial role in meiotic double-strand break repair, which is vital for homologous chromosomes to pair and recombine, ensuring balanced segregation and genetic diversity in sexual reproduction [1,2,4,5,7]. This process is integral to the formation of sex cells.

Male Zcwpw1 knockout mice show severe DSB repair and synapsis defects, leading to sterility. Their spermatocytes are arrested at the pachytene-like stage, phenocopying the knockout mice. In contrast, in female mice, deletion of Zcwpw1 only slows down meiosis prophase I progression, and they can still maintain normal fertility until mid-adulthood [1,2,4]. A loss-of-function variant in ZCWPW1 in humans has also been reported to cause male infertility with sperm head defect and high DNA fragmentation [6]. Additionally, Zcwpw1 has been associated with Alzheimer's disease risk, as rare-variant burden in it highlighted this gene as a potential driver of an AD-genome-wide association study locus [3].

In conclusion, Zcwpw1 is indispensable for meiotic synapsis in males, playing a key role in the production of male sex cells. Mouse knockout models have been instrumental in revealing its role in male fertility. Its association with Alzheimer's disease also indicates its potential importance in neurodegenerative disease research, although further study is needed to fully understand this connection.