Project description:In mammals, spermatogenesis plays a critical role in upholding the genetic stability of the male germline; however, disruptions such as viral and bacterial infections, toxic damage, genetic mutations, or deletions can disturb the delicate equilibrium of the testicular microenvironment, ultimately resulting in impaired spermatogenesis and male infertility. One key protein involved in this process is UCHL1, which possesses deubiquitinating enzyme, multiple ligases, and hydrolase activities. In addition to its roles in maintaining neuronal activity and memory function in the brain, UCHL1 is also implicated in spermatogenesis. Nevertheless, the precise mechanism by which it sustains metabolic homeostasis during spermatogenesis remains unclear. To investigate this, we generated Uchl1_KO mice and subjected their testes to snRNA-seq and metabolomics sequencing. Our analysis revealed that Uchl1_KO mice exhibited abnormal spermatogenesis, decreased testicular OXHPOS levels, and disrupted ADIPONECTIN signaling, concomitant with heightened inflammatory signaling and disturbances in lipid metabolism and energy homeostasis in the testes. These findings suggest that Uchl1 plays a crucial role in spermatogenesis by modulating energy and metabolic pathways within the testes to maintain orderly spermatogenesis. This study contributes to the understanding of the energy and metabolic balance required for successful male spermatogenesis.
Project description:Mammalian spermatogenesis is regulated by epigenetic mechanisms that maintain cell type-specific transcriptional programs. The epigenetic regulator BMI1, a PRC1 member, is required for maintaining undifferentiated spermatogonia, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To address this issue, here we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by massive parallel sequencing (ChIP-seq).
Project description:The mammalian Y chromosome plays a critical role in spermatogenesis. However, the exact functions of each gene in the Y chromosome have not been completely elucidated, partly owing to difficulties in gene targeting analysis of the Y chromosome. Zfy was first proposed to be a sex determination factor, but its function in spermatogenesis has been recently elucidated. Nevertheless, Zfy gene targeting analysis has not been performed thus far. Here, we adopted the highly efficient CRISPR/Cas9 system to generate individual Zfy1 or Zfy2 knockout (KO) mice and Zfy1 and Zfy2 double knockout (Zfy1/2-DKO) mice. While individual Zfy1 or Zfy2-KO mice did not show any significant phenotypic alterations in fertility, Zfy1/2-DKO mice were infertile and displayed abnormal sperm morphology, fertilization failure, and early embryonic development failure. Mass spectrometric screening, followed by confirmation with western blot analysis, showed that PLCZ1, PLCD4, PRSS21, and HTT protein expression were significantly deceased in spermatozoa of Zfy1/2-DKO mice compared with those of wild-type mice. These results are consistent with the phenotypic changes seen in the double-mutant mice. Collectively, our strategy and findings revealed that Zfy1 and Zfy2 have redundant functions in spermatogenesis, facilitating a better understanding of fertilization failure and early embryonic development failure.
Project description:Spermatogenesis is precisely controlled at the transcriptional, posttranscriptional, and translational levels. Here we report that N6-methyladenosine (m6A), an epitranscriptomic mark regulating gene expression, plays essential roles during spermatogenesis. We present comprehensive m6A mRNA methylomes of mouse spermatogenic cells from five developmental stages: undifferentiated spermatogonia, type A1 spermatogonia, preleptotene spermatocytes, pachytene/diplotene spermatocytes, and round spermatids. Germ cell-specific inactiva- tion of the m6A RNA methyltransferase Mettl3 or Mettl14 with Vasa-Cre causes loss of m6A and depletion of SSCs. m6A depletion dysregulates translation of transcripts that are required for SSC proliferation/differentiation. Com- bined deletion of Mettl3 and Mettl14 in advanced germ cells with Stra8-GFPCre disrupts spermiogenesis, whereas mice with single deletion of either Mettl3 or Mettl14 in advanced germ cells show normal spermatogenesis. The sper- matids from double-mutant mice exhibit impaired translation of haploid-specific genes that are essential for spermio- genesis. This study highlights crucial roles of mRNA m6A modification in germline development, potentially ensuring coordinated translation at different stages of spermatogenesis.
Project description:Spermatogenesis plays an important role in the mammalian testis, involving in the complex processes of mitosis, meiosis, and spermiogenesis. Spermatogenesis may also be disrupted in the absence of the immunological and ‘fence’ functions of the BTB, resulting in male subfertility or infertility. Mice lacking wild-type p53-induced phosphatase 1 (Wip1) display male reproductive organ defects, but the molecular mechanisms underlying these abnormalities remain unclear. We explored the function of Wip1 in spermatogenesis and fertility by examining differences in the expressed testis proteome and phosphoproteome between Wip1-deficient and wild-type mice using a proteomics approach. 90 proteins and 178 phosphoproteins were differentially regulated between these two groups of mice. These results suggested that proinflammatory cytokines may impair the blood–testis barrier dynamics by decreasing the expression of junction-associated proteins, which effect could be partially responsible for the subfertility and spermatogenesis defects in Wip1-knockout mice.