Mouse testis transcriptome revealed using serial analysis of gene expression

Abstract

We applied serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) to the mouse testis to reveal the global gene expression profile and to identify senescence-dependent changes in that profile. A total of 61,929 SAGE tags, including 19,323 unique tags, were obtained from 3- and 29-month-old BDF1 mice and 14-month-old SAMP1 mice. Genes highly expressed in the testis included those associated with spermatogenesis, protein metabolism, energy metabolism, growth and differentiation, and signal transduction. Testes from old mice of both strains appeared atrophied. Morphological examination of aged testes revealed extremely thin seminiferous epithelia and significantly decreased numbers of spermatids and spermatocytes. Despite the physical deterioration, no gross changes in the gene expression profile were apparent in the testes of old BDF1 mice. However, in 14-month-old SAMP1 mice, protamine 2 gene transcription was approximately 50% lower than in BDF1 mice. This reduction may be associated with the oligozoospermia and early decline in reproductive performance of SAMP1 mice. Our SAGE results are the first quantitative gene expression profile of the mouse testis and provide a reliable transcriptome reference for this organ.

The role of Dby mRNA in early development of male mouse zygotes

“…Recently, however, some spermatozoa RNA, along with sperm, have been shown to be introduced into the oocyte during fertilization, which remains stable until the onset of the expression of the embryonic genome. Furthermore, a functional analysis of 389 clustered genes in ejaculated spermatozoa, identified by serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE), revealed highly selective functional categorizations in nucleus proteins related to DNA-dependent transcription (96/389) and ribosomal subunits involving protein biosynthesis (84/389), while the genes highly expressed in mouse testis were mostly concentrated in spermatogenesis, protein metabolism, energy metabolism, growth and differentiation, and signal transduction [15,16]. Interestingly, a microarray analysis comparing gene expression profiles of fertile and infertile sperm, without basic sperm abnormality, revealed a significant difference in spermatozoa transcripts [17].…”

Testicular postgenomics: targeting the regulation of spermatogenesis

“…Many groups have adopted basic strategies to address this issue, by carrying out systematic characterization of genes and proteins expressed in isolated germ cells at a given time of their development or in total testis (figure 3). These studies include systematic identification of germ cells chromatin-associated proteins in Caenorhabditis elegans (Chu et al 2006), insoluble chromatin-associated proteins in mouse elongated spermatids (Govin et al 2006), testicular proteins in the fruitfly (Takemori & Yamamoto 2009), the pig (Huang et al 2005) or the mouse (Zhu et al 2006) as well as expression analyses of the germline genes in C. elegans (Reinke et al 2000), and in the testis of the mouse (Yao et al 2004;Divina et al 2005) or human (Fox et al 2003). Large datasets including genes and proteins known to be important for testicular function and male fertility re-emerged from these studies.…”

Transcriptome profiling of the developing postnatal mouse testis using next-generation sequencing

“…Wu et al [14] sequenced the transcriptomes of mouse type A spermatogonia, pachytene spermatocytes, and round spermatids and, again using SAGE, estimated that the germ-cell transcriptome was comprised of more than 30000 transcripts. Yao et al [15] identified 19323 unique tags from both young adult and aged mouse testes. The levels of transcripts associated with spermatogenesis, such as protamine 2, transition protein 1, and poly-A binding protein, were overwhelmingly high, whereas housekeeping genes and marker genes for Sertoli and Leydig cells were generally expressed at a low level.…”