The testis is the special male gonad responsible for spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis with complex gene expressions. Characterizing and comparing the testis-specific genes in different species can reveal key genes related to testis specifical functions and provide supplementary information for study of human testis function. We screened testis-specific genes from Unigene libraries, total 317, 449 and 147 testis-specific genes were identified for human, mouse and rat, respectively. Ten from thirteen selected human testis-specific genes were validated exclusively expressed in the testis by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Systematic bioinformatics analysis showed that specific genes were mainly related to spermatogenesis and testis development process with significant Glycolysis and Pyruvate metabolism. Enrichment functions were discussed.Key words testis; specific; digital differential display Biol. Pharm. Bull. 34(1) 28-35 (2011) © 2011 Pharmaceutical Society of Japan * To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: zxsys008@126.com Colon 7 29584 1 5219 3 5458 Heart 4 19926 8 67542 4 31600 Kidney 6 49568 10 54164 4 24601 Liver 11 72628 6 25033 3 59093 Lung 7 46559 7 40355 2 8065 Muscle 2 6424 2 3031 1 2429 Ovary 4 10862 2 6847 1 4443 Pancreas 1 4308 6 22020 1 16173 Placenta 12 71806 7 21182 2 8475 Prostate 5 63083 0 0 1 9076 Spleen 2 36689 3 46301 1 3629 Stomach 11 36759 4 18360 0 0 Thymus 4 72916 8 93976 0 0 Uterus 5 58541 0 0 0 0 Total 96 783531 74 454582 30 198862 Libraries from 18 organs against testis libraries were used in the digital differential display (DDD) program.

The testis is major male gonad responsible for spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis. Much knowledge is still remained to be learned about the control of these events. In this study, we performed a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis on 1,196 mouse testis proteins screened from public protein database.