Revealing stage-specific expression patterns of long noncoding RNAs along mouse spermatogenesis

 

Autor(es):

Trovero Martínez, María Fernanda ; Rodríguez-Casuriaga, Rosana ; Romeo, Carlos ; Santiñaque, Federico ; François, Mateo ; Folle Ungo, Gustavo A. ; Benavente, Ricardo ; Sotelo Silveira, José Roberto ; Geisinger Wschebor, Adriana

Tipo:

Artículo

Versión:

Publicado

Resumen:

The discovery of a large number of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), and the finding that they may play key roles in different biological processes, have started to provide a new perspective in the understanding of gene regulation. It has been shown that the testes express the highest amount of lncRNAs among different vertebrate tissues. However, although some studies have addressed the characterization of lncRNAs along spermatogenesis, an exhaustive analysis of the differential expression of lncRNAs at its different stages is still lacking. Here, we present the results for lncRNA transcriptome profiling along mouse spermatogenesis, employing highly pure flow sorted spermatogenic stage-specific cell populations, strand-specific RNAseq, and a combination of up-to-date bioinformatic pipelines for analysis. We found that the vast majority of testicular lncRNA genes are expressed at post-meiotic stages (i.e. spermiogenesis), which are characterized by extensive post-transcriptional regulation. LncRNAs at different spermatogenic stages shared common traits in terms of transcript length, exon number, and biotypes. Most lncRNAs were lincRNAs, followed by a high representation of antisense (AS) lncRNAs. Co-expression analyses showed a high correlation along the different spermatogenic stage transitions between the expression patterns of AS lncRNAs and their overlapping protein-coding genes, raising possible clues about lncRNA-related regulatory mechanisms. Interestingly, we observed the colocalization of an AS lncRNA and its host sense mRNA in the chromatoid body, a round spermatidsspecific organelle that has been proposed as a reservoir of RNA-related regulatory machinery. An additional, intriguing observation is the almost complete lack of detectable expression for Y-linked testicular lncRNAs, despite that a high number of lncRNA genes are annotated for this chromosome

Año:

2020

Idioma:

Inglés

Temas:

LncRNAs
Spermatogenesis
Testis
RNAseq
Transcriptome

Institución:

Universidad de la República

Repositorio:

COLIBRI

Enlace(s):

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/31651

Nivel de acceso:

Acceso abierto