Taken together, we established the miRNA signature of SSC, PrM and meiotic cells and show evidence for their functional relevance during the process of spermatogenesis by target prediction and validation. Through our observations, we propose a working model in which the stage-specific miRNAs such as miR-221, -203 and -34b-5p coordinate the regulation of spermatogenesis.

Gorlin-Chaudhry-Moss syndrome (GCMS) is a dysmorphic syndrome characterized by coronal craniosynostosis and severe midface hypoplasia, body and facial hypertrichosis, microphthalmia, short stature, and short distal phalanges. Variable lipoatrophy and cutis laxa are the basis for a progeroid appearance. Using exome and genome sequencing, we identified the recurrent de novo mutations c.650G>A (p.Arg217His) and c.649C>T (p.Arg217Cys) in SLC25A24 in five unrelated girls diagnosed with GCMS. Two of the girls had pronounced neonatal progeroid features and were initially diagnosed with Wiedemann-Rautenstrauch syndrome. SLC25A24 encodes a mitochondrial inner membrane ATP-Mg/P carrier. In fibroblasts from affected individuals, the mutated SLC25A24 showed normal stability. In contrast to control cells, the probands' cells showed mitochondrial swelling, which was exacerbated upon treatment with hydrogen peroxide (HO). The same effect was observed after overexpression of the mutant cDNA. Under normal culture conditions, the mitochondrial membrane potential of the probands' fibroblasts was intact, whereas ATP content in the mitochondrial matrix was lower than that in control cells. However, upon HO exposure, the membrane potential was significantly elevated in cells harboring the mutated SLC25A24. No reduction of mitochondrial DNA copy number was observed. These findings demonstrate that mitochondrial dysfunction with increased sensitivity to oxidative stress is due to the SLC25A24 mutations. Our results suggest that the SLC25A24 mutations induce a gain of pathological function and link mitochondrial ATP-Mg/P transport to the development of skeletal and connective tissue.

Reprogramming of mouse somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) often generates partially reprogrammed iPSCs (pre-iPSCs), low-grade chimera forming iPSCs (lg-iPSCs) and fully reprogrammed, high-grade chimera production competent iPSCs (hg-iPSCs). Lg-iPSC transcriptome analysis revealed misregulated Dlk1-Dio3 cluster gene expression and subsequently the imprinting defect at the Dlk1-Dio3 locus. Here, we show that germ-cell marker Dppa3 is present only in lg-iPSCs and hg-iPSCs, and that induction with exogenous Dppa3 enhances reprogramming kinetics, generating all hg-iPSCs, similar to vitamin C (Vc). Conversely, Dppa3-null fibroblasts show reprogramming block at pre-iPSCs state and Dlk1-Dio3 imprinting defect. At the molecular level, we show that Dppa3 is associated with Dlk1-Dio3 locus and identify that Dppa3 maintains imprinting by antagonizing Dnmt3a binding. Our results further show molecular parallels between Dppa3 and Vc in Dlk1-Dio3 imprinting maintenance and suggest that early activation of Dppa3 is one of the cascades through which Vc facilitates the generation of fully reprogrammed iPSCs.

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Pluripotency is maintained by both known and unknown transcriptional regulatory networks. In the present study, we have identified Zfp819, a KRAB-zinc finger protein, as a novel pluripotency-related factor and characterized its role in pluripotent stem cells. We show that Zfp819 is expressed highly in various types of pluripotent stem cells but not in their differentiated counterparts. We identified the presence of non-canonical nuclear localization signals in particular zinc finger motifs and identified them as responsible for the nuclear localization of Zfp819. Analysis of the Zfp819 promoter region revealed the presence of a transcriptionally active chromatin signature. Moreover, we confirmed the binding of pluripotency-related factors, Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog to the distal promoter region of Zfp819, indicating that the expression of this gene is regulated by a pluripotency transcription factor network. We found that the expression of endogenous retroviral elements (ERVs) such as Intracisternal A Particle (IAP) retrotransposons, Long Interspersed Nuclear Elements (LINE1), and Short Interspersed Nuclear Elements (SINE B1) is significantly upregulated in Zfp819-knockdown (Zfp819_KD) cells. In line with the activation of ERVs, we observed the occurrence of spontaneous DNA damage in Zfp819_KD cells. Furthermore, we tested whether Zfp819 can interact with KAP1, a KRAB-associated protein with a transcriptional repression function, and found the interaction between these two proteins in both in vitro and in vivo experiments. The challenging of Zfp819_KD cells with DNA damaging agent revealed that these cells are inefficient in repairing the damaged DNA, as cells showed presence of γH2A.X foci for a prolonged time. Collectively, our study identified Zfp819 as a novel pluripotency-related factor and unveiled its function in genomic integrity maintenance mechanisms of mouse embryonic stem cells.