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Salehi N, Totonchi M. The construction of a testis transcriptional cell atlas from embryo to adult reveals various somatic cells and their molecular roles. J Transl Med 2023; 21:859. [PMID: 38012716 PMCID: PMC10680190 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-023-04722-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The testis is a complex organ that undergoes extensive developmental changes from the embryonic stage to adulthood. The development of germ cells, which give rise to spermatozoa, is tightly regulated by the surrounding somatic cells. METHODS To better understand the dynamics of these changes, we constructed a transcriptional cell atlas of the testis, integrating single-cell RNA sequencing data from over 26,000 cells across five developmental stages: fetal germ cells, infants, childhood, peri-puberty, and adults. We employed various analytical techniques, including clustering, cell type assignments, identification of differentially expressed genes, pseudotime analysis, weighted gene co-expression network analysis, and evaluation of paracrine cell-cell communication, to comprehensively analyze this transcriptional cell atlas of the testis. RESULTS Our analysis revealed remarkable heterogeneity in both somatic and germ cell populations, with the highest diversity observed in Sertoli and Myoid somatic cells, as well as in spermatogonia, spermatocyte, and spermatid germ cells. We also identified key somatic cell genes, including RPL39, RPL10, RPL13A, FTH1, RPS2, and RPL18A, which were highly influential in the weighted gene co-expression network of the testis transcriptional cell atlas and have been previously implicated in male infertility. Additionally, our analysis of paracrine cell-cell communication supported specific ligand-receptor interactions involved in neuroactive, cAMP, and estrogen signaling pathways, which support the crucial role of somatic cells in regulating germ cell development. CONCLUSIONS Overall, our transcriptional atlas provides a comprehensive view of the cell-to-cell heterogeneity in the testis and identifies key somatic cell genes and pathways that play a central role in male fertility across developmental stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Najmeh Salehi
- School of Biological Science, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), Tehran, Iran.
| | - Mehdi Totonchi
- Department of Genetics, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
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2
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Jiang Y, Zhang Z. OVOL2: an epithelial lineage determiner with emerging roles in energy homeostasis. Trends Cell Biol 2023; 33:824-833. [PMID: 37336658 PMCID: PMC10524639 DOI: 10.1016/j.tcb.2023.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
Ovo like zinc finger 2 (OVOL2) is an evolutionarily conserved regulator of epithelial lineage determination and differentiation during embryogenesis. OVOL2 binds to DNA using zinc-finger domains to suppress epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which is critical for tumor metastasis. However, recent studies have suggested some noncanonical roles of OVOL2 that do not rely on the DNA binding of zinc-finger domains or regulation of EMT. OVOL2 and EMT regulators have emerging roles in adipogenesis, thermogenesis, and lipid metabolism. Here, we review different roles of OVOL2 from embryo development to adult tissue homeostasis, and discuss how OVOL2 and other EMT regulators orchestrate a regulatory network to control energy homeostasis. Last, we propose potential applications of targeting OVOL2 to reduce human obesity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiao Jiang
- Center for the Genetics of Host Defense, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA; Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
| | - Zhao Zhang
- Center for the Genetics of Host Defense, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA; Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
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3
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Integration and gene co-expression network analysis of scRNA-seq transcriptomes reveal heterogeneity and key functional genes in human spermatogenesis. Sci Rep 2021; 11:19089. [PMID: 34580317 PMCID: PMC8476490 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98267-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 08/27/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Spermatogenesis is a complex process of cellular division and differentiation that begins with spermatogonia stem cells and leads to functional spermatozoa production. However, many of the molecular mechanisms underlying this process remain unclear. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is used to sequence the entire transcriptome at the single-cell level to assess cell-to-cell variability. In this study, more than 33,000 testicular cells from different scRNA-seq datasets with normal spermatogenesis were integrated to identify single-cell heterogeneity on a more comprehensive scale. Clustering, cell type assignments, differential expressed genes and pseudotime analysis characterized 5 spermatogonia, 4 spermatocyte, and 4 spermatid cell types during the spermatogenesis process. The UTF1 and ID4 genes were introduced as the most specific markers that can differentiate two undifferentiated spermatogonia stem cell sub-cellules. The C7orf61 and TNP can differentiate two round spermatid sub-cellules. The topological analysis of the weighted gene co-expression network along with the integrated scRNA-seq data revealed some bridge genes between spermatogenesis's main stages such as DNAJC5B, C1orf194, HSP90AB1, BST2, EEF1A1, CRISP2, PTMS, NFKBIA, CDKN3, and HLA-DRA. The importance of these key genes is confirmed by their role in male infertility in previous studies. It can be stated that, this integrated scRNA-seq of spermatogenic cells offers novel insights into cell-to-cell heterogeneity and suggests a list of key players with a pivotal role in male infertility from the fertile spermatogenesis datasets. These key functional genes can be introduced as candidates for filtering and prioritizing genotype-to-phenotype association in male infertility.
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4
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Suo S, Zhu Q, Saadatpour A, Fei L, Guo G, Yuan GC. Revealing the Critical Regulators of Cell Identity in the Mouse Cell Atlas. Cell Rep 2018; 25:1436-1445.e3. [PMID: 30404000 PMCID: PMC6281296 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.10.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 139] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2018] [Revised: 09/06/2018] [Accepted: 10/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent progress in single-cell technologies has enabled the identification of all major cell types in mouse. However, for most cell types, the regulatory mechanism underlying their identity remains poorly understood. By computational analysis of the recently published mouse cell atlas data, we have identified 202 regulons whose activities are highly variable across different cell types, and more importantly, predicted a small set of essential regulators for each major cell type in mouse. Systematic validation by automated literature and data mining provides strong additional support for our predictions. Thus, these predictions serve as a valuable resource that would be useful for the broad biological community. Finally, we have built a user-friendly, interactive web portal to enable users to navigate this mouse cell network atlas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengbao Suo
- Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Qian Zhu
- Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Assieh Saadatpour
- Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Lijiang Fei
- Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Guoji Guo
- Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Guo-Cheng Yuan
- Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
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5
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Conserved role of Ovo in germline development in mouse and Drosophila. Sci Rep 2017; 7:40056. [PMID: 28059165 PMCID: PMC5216385 DOI: 10.1038/srep40056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2016] [Accepted: 11/30/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Ovo, which encodes a transcription factor with Zn-finger domains, is evolutionarily conserved among animals. In Drosophila, in addition to its zygotic function for egg production, maternal ovo activity is required in primordial germ cells (PGCs) for expression of germline genes such as vasa and nanos. In this study, we found that maternal Ovo accumulates in PGC nuclei during embryogenesis. In these cells, ovo serves a dual function: activation of genes expressed predominantly in PGCs, and conversely suppression of somatic genes. Reduction of ovo activity in PGCs makes them unable to develop normally into germ cells of both sexes. In mice, knockout of the ovo ortholog, Ovol2, which is expressed in PGCs, decreases the number of PGCs during early embryogenesis. These data strongly suggest that ovo acts as part of an evolutionarily conserved mechanism that regulates germline development in animals.
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Ishizuka M, Ohtsuka E, Inoue A, Odaka M, Ohshima H, Tamura N, Yoshida K, Sako N, Baba T, Kashiwabara SI, Okabe M, Noguchi J, Hagiwara H. Abnormal spermatogenesis and male infertility in testicular zinc finger protein Zfp318-knockout mice. Dev Growth Differ 2016; 58:600-8. [PMID: 27385512 DOI: 10.1111/dgd.12301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2015] [Revised: 05/07/2016] [Accepted: 05/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Zfp318, a mouse gene with a Cys2/His2 zinc finger motif, is mainly expressed in germ cells in the testis. It encodes two alternative transcripts, which regulate androgen receptor-mediated transcriptional activation or repression by overexpression of them. However, the role of Zfp318 is still obscure in vivo, especially in spermatogenesis. To elucidate the role of Zfp318 during gamete production, we established a knockout mouse line. Zfp318-null male mice exhibited infertility, whereas Zfp318-null female mice displayed normal fertility. ZFP318 was expressed during multiple stages of spermatogenesis, from spermatocytes to round spermatids. The nuclei of secondary spermatocytes showed high levels of expression. Histological analysis and quantitative analysis of DNA content showed decreased numbers of both spermatids in the seminiferous tubules and mature spermatozoa in the epididymides of Zfp318-null mice. These results suggest that Zfp318 is expressed as a functional protein in testicular germ cells and plays an important role in meiosis during spermatogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masamichi Ishizuka
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan
| | - Eri Ohtsuka
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan
| | - Atsuto Inoue
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan
| | - Mirei Odaka
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan
| | - Hirotaka Ohshima
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan
| | - Norihisa Tamura
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan
| | - Kaoru Yoshida
- Biomedical Engineering Center, Toin University of Yokohama, Yokohama, 225-8503, Japan
| | - Norihisa Sako
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Toin University of Yokohama, Yokohama, 225-8503, Japan
| | - Tadashi Baba
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan
| | - Shin-Ichi Kashiwabara
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan
| | - Masaru Okabe
- Genome Information Research Center, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
| | - Junko Noguchi
- Germ Cell Conservation Laboratory, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Ibaraki, 305-8602, Japan
| | - Hiromi Hagiwara
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, 226-8501, Japan. .,Department of Biomedical Engineering, Toin University of Yokohama, Yokohama, 225-8503, Japan.
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7
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Rotgers E, Nurmio M, Pietilä E, Cisneros-Montalvo S, Toppari J. E2F1 controls germ cell apoptosis during the first wave of spermatogenesis. Andrology 2016; 3:1000-14. [PMID: 26311345 PMCID: PMC5042044 DOI: 10.1111/andr.12090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2015] [Revised: 07/01/2015] [Accepted: 07/03/2015] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Cell cycle control during spermatogenesis is a highly complex process owing to the control of the mitotic expansion of the spermatogonial cell population and following meiosis, induction of DNA breaks during meiosis and the high levels of physiological germ-cell apoptosis. We set out to study how E2F1, a key controller of cell cycle, apoptosis, and DNA damage responses, functions in the developing and adult testis. We first analyzed the expression pattern of E2f1 during post-natal testis development using RNA in situ hybridization, which showed a differential expression pattern of E2f1 in the adult and juvenile mouse testes. To study the function of E2f1, we took advantage of the E2F1(-/-) mouse line, which was back-crossed to C57Bl/6J genetic background. E2f1 loss led to a severe progressive testicular atrophy beginning at the age of 20 days. Spermatogonial apoptosis during the first wave of spermatogenesis was decreased. However, already in the first wave of spermatogenesis an extensive apoptosis of spermatocytes was observed. In the adult E2F1(-/-) testes, the atrophy due to loss of spermatocytes was further exacerbated by loss of spermatogonial stem cells. Surprisingly, only subtle changes in global gene expression array profiling were observed in E2F1(-/-) testis at PND20. To dissect the changes in each testicular cell type, an additional comparative analysis of the array data was performed making use of previously published data on transcriptomes of the individual testicular cell types. Taken together, our data indicate that E2F1 has a differential role during first wave of spermatogenesis and in the adult testis, which emphasizes the complex nature of cell cycle control in the developing testis.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Rotgers
- Department of Physiology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.,Department of Pediatrics, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - M Nurmio
- Department of Physiology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.,Department of Pediatrics, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - E Pietilä
- Department of Physiology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - S Cisneros-Montalvo
- Department of Physiology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.,Department of Pediatrics, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - J Toppari
- Department of Physiology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.,Department of Pediatrics, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
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Taniguchi H, Katano T, Nishida K, Yao I, Morimoto Y, Matsuda T, Ito S. Expression of hOvol2 in the XY body of human spermatocytes. Andrologia 2016; 49. [DOI: 10.1111/and.12599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/22/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- H. Taniguchi
- Department of Medical Chemistry; Kansai Medical University; Hirakata Osaka Japan
- Department of Urology and Andrology; Kansai Medical University; Hirakata Osaka Japan
| | - T. Katano
- Department of Medical Chemistry; Kansai Medical University; Hirakata Osaka Japan
| | - K. Nishida
- Department of Medical Chemistry; Kansai Medical University; Hirakata Osaka Japan
| | - I. Yao
- Medical Photonics Research Center; Hamamatsu University School of Medicine; Hamamatsu Shizuoka Japan
| | | | - T. Matsuda
- Department of Urology and Andrology; Kansai Medical University; Hirakata Osaka Japan
| | - S. Ito
- Department of Medical Chemistry; Kansai Medical University; Hirakata Osaka Japan
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Chalmel F, Lardenois A, Evrard B, Mathieu R, Feig C, Demougin P, Gattiker A, Schulze W, Jégou B, Kirchhoff C, Primig M. Global human tissue profiling and protein network analysis reveals distinct levels of transcriptional germline-specificity and identifies target genes for male infertility. Hum Reprod 2012; 27:3233-48. [PMID: 22926843 DOI: 10.1093/humrep/des301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mammalian spermatogenesis is a process that involves a complex expression program in both somatic and germ cells present in the male gonad. A number of studies have attempted to define the transcriptome of male meiosis and gametogenesis in rodents and primates. Few human transcripts, however, have been associated with testicular somatic cells and germ cells at different post-natal developmental stages and little is known about their level of germline-specificity compared with non-testicular tissues. METHODS We quantified human transcripts using GeneChips and a total of 47 biopsies from prepubertal children diagnosed with undescended testis, infertile adult patients whose spermatogenesis is arrested at consecutive stages and fertile control individuals. These results were integrated with data from enriched normal germ cells, non-testicular expression data, phenotype information, predicted regulatory DNA-binding motifs and interactome data. RESULTS Among 3580 genes for which we found differential transcript concentrations in somatic and germ cells present in human testis, 933 were undetectable in 45 embryonic and adult non-testicular tissues, including many that were corroborated at protein level by published gene annotation data and histological high-throughput protein immunodetection assays. Using motif enrichment analyses, we identified regulatory promoter elements likely involved in germline development. Finally, we constructed a regulatory disease network for human fertility by integrating expression signals, interactome information, phenotypes and functional annotation data. CONCLUSIONS Our results provide broad insight into the post-natal human testicular transcriptome at the level of cell populations and in a global somatic tissular context. Furthermore, they yield clues for genetic causes of male infertility and will facilitate the identification of novel cancer/testis genes as targets for cancer immunotherapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frédéric Chalmel
- Inserm Unit 1085-IRSET, Université de Rennes 1, EHESP School of Public Health, F-35042 Rennes, France
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Sex chromosome inactivation in germ cells: emerging roles of DNA damage response pathways. Cell Mol Life Sci 2012; 69:2559-72. [PMID: 22382926 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-012-0941-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2011] [Revised: 02/09/2012] [Accepted: 02/13/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Sex chromosome inactivation in male germ cells is a paradigm of epigenetic programming during sexual reproduction. Recent progress has revealed the underlying mechanisms of sex chromosome inactivation in male meiosis. The trigger of chromosome-wide silencing is activation of the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway, which is centered on the mediator of DNA damage checkpoint 1 (MDC1), a binding partner of phosphorylated histone H2AX (γH2AX). This DDR pathway shares features with the somatic DDR pathway recognizing DNA replication stress in the S phase. Additionally, it is likely to be distinct from the DDR pathway that recognizes meiosis-specific double-strand breaks. This review article extensively discusses the underlying mechanism of sex chromosome inactivation.
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