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The NMD endonuclease SMG6 co-operates with the piRNA pathway in germ granules to shape the male germ cell transcriptome

ABSTRACT: Nonsense-mediated RNA decay (NMD) is a conserved RNA turnover pathway. Here we report that the sole endonuclease in the NMD pathway, SMG6, is essential for the male germline. Germ-cell conditional knockout (cKO) of Smg6 causes complete arrest of spermatogenesis at the early haploid cell stage. Smg6-cKO round spermatids accumulate NMD target mRNAs with long 3’ untranslated regions (UTRs) and fail to eliminate transcripts normally expressed during meiosis, the previous step in spermatogenesis. SMG6 and PIWI-interacting (pi) RNA pathway components are highly enriched in the chromatoid body (CB), a specialized cytoplasmic granule in male germ cells. This led to the intriguing possibility that the CB is a site where SMG6 and the piRNA pathway co-operate to regulate RNA metabolism. Several findings supported this hypothesis: (i) SMG6 and the piRNA-binding protein PIWIL1 have almost identical temporal expression and localization patterns, (ii) SMG6 and PIWIL1 physically interact, (iii) scores of genes upregulated in Smg6-cKO round spermatids overlap with those upregulated in Piwil1-KO round spermatids, and (iv) the phenotypic defects caused by SMG6 loss phenocopies the defects caused by PIWIL1 loss. Together, our results demonstrate that SMG6 is an essential regulator of the male germline transcriptome and highlight the CB as a molecular platform coordinating RNA regulatory pathways to control sperm production and fertility.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE182518 | GEO | 2022/09/27

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Pachytene piRNAs are PIWI-interacting small RNAs abundantly expressed in pachytene spermatocytes and spermatids in adult mouse testes. Both MIWI and MILI-bound pachytene piRNAs have been found enriched in round spermatids. Miwi-null male mice are sterile due to spermiogenic arrest. In C. elegans, sperm-borne piRNAs appear to have an epigenetic role during fertilization and development because progeny of offspring derived from piRNA-deficient sperm display a progressive fertility loss after several generations. In mice, it remains unknown whether MIWI-bound pachytene piRNA-deficient round spermatids can produce offspring, and whether the progeny of offspring derived from MIWI-bound pachytene piRNA-deficient round spermatids also exhibit transgenerational loss of fertility. Here, we report that Miwi KO round spermatids could fertilize both wild type (WT) and Miwi KO oocytes through round spermatid microinjection (ROSI), and produce healthy and fertile offspring despite the aberrant pachytene piRNA profiles in those Miwi KO spermatids. Progeny of ROSI-derived heterozygotes, both male and female, displayed normal fertility for at least three generations when bred with either WT or Miwi KO females. Our data indicate that aberrant MIWI-bound pachytene piRNAs profiles in spermatids do not affect fertilization, early embryonic development, or fertility of the offspring, suggesting a normal pachytene piRNAs profile is not required for paternal transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in mice. Method: Round spermatids were purified from WT and Miwi KO adult testes using a mini-STA-PUT method[Methods Enzymol 1993; 225:84-113.]，the purity of round spermatids was >90% based on our previous report[ J Biol Chem 2012; 287:25173-25190.]. Small RNA was isolated from round spermatids using the mirVana RNA isolation kit (Ambion) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. RNA quality and quantity were assessed using the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer. Small RNA-Seq was performed on an Ion Proton sequencer (Life Technologies). Libraries were prepared using the Ion Total RNA-Seq Kit v2 (Invitrogen) with biological triplicates for WT and Miwi KO samples. Resutls:Our data indicate that aberrant MIWI-bound pachytene piRNAs profiles in spermatids do not affect fertilization, early embryonic development, or fertility of the offspring, suggesting a normal pachytene piRNAs profile is not required for paternal transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in mice.

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The NMD endonuclease SMG6 co-operates with the piRNA pathway in germ granules to shape the male germ cell transcriptome

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