Long noncoding RNAs in spermatogenesis: insights from recent high-throughput transcriptome studies

Luk, Alfred Chun-Shui; Chan, Wai‐Yee; Rennert, Owen M.; Lee, Tin‐Lap

doi:10.1530/rep-13-0594

Cited by 88 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 69 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The second most abundant miRNA observed in the present study, miR-365-2 , is known to have BCL2 as one of its targets33, and the suppression of BCL2 is essential for the progression of a fertilized oocyte into the cleavage stage; therefore sperm-derived factors are thought to be essential for the development of preimplantation embryos34. Although a role of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) on spermatogenesis has been reported35, further studies are essential in bovine to better understand the roles of ncRNAs on spermatozoa fertility.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Occurrence and functional significance of the transcriptome in bovine (Bos taurus) spermatozoa

Selvaraju

Parthipan

Somashekar

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mammalian spermatozoa deliver various classes of RNAs to the oocyte during fertilization, and many of them may regulate fertility. The objective of the present study was to determine the composition and abundance of spermatozoal transcripts in fresh bull semen. The entire transcriptome of the spermatozoa from bulls (n = 3) was sequenced using two different platforms (Ion Proton and Illumina) to identify the maximum number of genes present in the spermatozoa. The bovine spermatozoa contained transcripts for 13,833 genes (transcripts per million, TPM > 10). Both intact and fragmented transcripts were found. These spermatozoal transcripts were associated with various stages of spermatogenesis, spermatozoal function, fertilization, and embryo development. The presence of intact transcripts of pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) in the spermatozoa suggest a possible influence of sperm transcripts beyond early embryonic development. The specific regions (exon, intron, and exon-intron) of the particular spermatozoal transcripts might help regulate fertilization. This study demonstrates that the use of two different RNA-seq platforms provides a comprehensive profile of bovine spermatozoal RNA. Spermatozoal RNA profiling may be useful as a non-invasive method to delineate possible causes of male infertility and to predict fertility in a manner that is more effective than the conventional methods.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Occurrence and functional significance of the transcriptome in bovine (Bos taurus) spermatozoa

Selvaraju

Parthipan

Somashekar

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…LncRNAs can regulate the expression of coding genes by epigenetic modification or induce recruitment to specific target sites, such as for DNA methylation and histone modification [28–30]. Accumulating evidence has shown that irregularities of lncRNAs in sperm could act as markers and potential therapeutic targets of male infertility [31]. The dynamic change of lncRNA expression during mouse testis postnatal development also indicated that lncRNAs might play crucial roles in mammalian testis development and spermatogenesis [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different expression patterns of sperm motility-related genes in testis of diploid and tetraploid cyprinid fish†

Zhou

et al. 2017

Biology of Reproduction

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sperm motility is an important standard to measure the fertility of male. In our previous study, we found that the diploid spermatozoa from allotetraploid hybrid (4nAT) had longer durations of rapid and slow progressive motility than haploid spermatozoa from common carp (COC). In this study, to explore sperm motility-related molecular mechanisms, we compared the testis tissues transcriptomes from 2-year-old male COC and 4nAT. The RNA-seq data revealed that 2985 genes were differentially expressed between COC and 4nAT, including 2216 upregulated and 769 downregulated genes in 4nAT. Some differentially expressed genes, such as tubulin genes, dynein, axonemal, heavy chain(dnah) genes, mitogen-activated protein kinase(mapk) genes, tektin 4, FOX transcription factors, proteasome genes, and ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase(uchl) genes, are involved in the regulation of cell division, flagellar and ciliary motility, gene transcription, cytoskeleton, energy metabolism, and the ubiquitin–proteasome system, suggesting that these genes were related to sperm motility of the 4nAT. We confirmed the differential expression of 12 such genes in 4nAT by quantitative PCR. By western blotting, we also confirmed increased expression of Uchl3 in 4nAT testis. In addition, we identified 1915 and 2551 predicted long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) transcripts from testis tissue transcriptomes of COC and 4nAT, respectively. Of these, 1575 lncRNAs were specifically expressed in 4nAT and 939 were specifically expressed in COC. This study provides insights into the transcriptome profile of testis tissues from diploid and tetraploid, which are useful for research on regulatory mechanisms behind sperm motility in male polyploidy.

show abstract

“…Spermatogonia differentiate into spermatocytes and spermatids during two meiotic divisions, which leads to the production of mature sperm (3). Defects at any stage of this process may lead to infertility.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification and characteristics of the testes-specific gene, Ccdc38, in mice

Lin

Guo

et al. 2016

Molecular Medicine Reports

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Distinguishing the testes-specific genes in different species may disclose key genes associated with testes-specific functions and provide sufficient information for the study and treatment of male infertility. A testes-specific gene, coiled-coil domain containing 38 (Ccdc38), was identified by screening UniGene libraries. Systematic bioinformatics analysis demonstrated that the CCDC38 protein was conserved in various mammalian species. It was determined that CCDC38 was exclusively expressed in testes and its expression increased from 2-8 weeks of age. Additional immunohistochemical analysis indicated that CCDC38 was mainly expressed in spermatogonia and spermatocytes. It is of note that, immunofluorescence and co-immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that CCDC38 interacted with ubiquitinated histone H2A in mouse testes. Therefore, these results suggest that Ccdc38 is a testes-specific gene, which may be important for mouse spermatogenesis. IntroductionInfertility affects ~15% of couples worldwide, with half of cases reported to be due to the male partner (1). Treatments for male infertility have not been developed as the associated molecular mechanisms are not well understood (2). A more detailed investigation of the physiological mechanisms of spermatogenesis is required for an improved understanding of infertility prior to the development of therapies for this condition.Spermatogenesis is a complicated developmental process. Spermatogonia differentiate into spermatocytes and spermatids during two meiotic divisions, which leads to the production of mature sperm (3). Defects at any stage of this process may lead to infertility. The process involves various genes, which encode proteins that in turn are important for specific stages of germ cell development. Theses genes are primarily expressed in spermatogenic cells, and are regulated at the transcriptional or post-transcriptional level. The identification of germ cell-specific or testes-specific genes involved in these unique events provides a means by which to dissect the differentiation program and to study the mechanisms of spermatogenesis. Previous studies have identified a number of testes-specific genes in humans and mice, including fibronectin type 3 and ankyrin repeat domains 1 (4), A kinase (PRKA) anchor protein 3 (5), protein lifeguard 5 (6), protease, serine 41 (7), spermatogenesis associated 33 (2) and testis-specific serine kinase 4 (8). In addition to the aforementioned genes it is possible that additional testis-specific genes exist and provide unique functions.Coiled-coil domain containing 38 (Ccdc38) was selected from the expressed sequence tags (ESTs) obtained through the comparison of testes gene libraries with the libraries of other tissues and cell lines using the differential digital display program (9). The EST profile of Ccdc38 in Unigene (Mm.477086) indicates that the Ccdc38 transcript is detected solely in murine testes, which is consistent with the report at BioGPS.org (10). Ccdc38 orthologs are present in other species, i...

show abstract

Long noncoding RNAs in spermatogenesis: insights from recent high-throughput transcriptome studies

Cited by 88 publications

References 69 publications

Occurrence and functional significance of the transcriptome in bovine (Bos taurus) spermatozoa

Occurrence and functional significance of the transcriptome in bovine (Bos taurus) spermatozoa

Different expression patterns of sperm motility-related genes in testis of diploid and tetraploid cyprinid fish†

Identification and characteristics of the testes-specific gene, Ccdc38, in mice

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About