title: Expression profiling of mammalian male meiosis and gametogenesis identifies novel candidate genes for roles in the regulation of fertility.
abstract: We report a comprehensive large-scale expression profiling analysis of mammalian male germ cells undergoing mitotic growth, meiosis, and gametogenesis by using high-density oligonucleotide microarrays and highly enriched cell populations. Among 11,955 rat loci investigated, 1268 were identified as differentially transcribed in germ cells at subsequent developmental stages compared with total testis, somatic Sertoli cells as well as brain and skeletal muscle controls. The loci were organized into four expression clusters that correspond to somatic, mitotic, meiotic, and postmeiotic cell types. This work provides information about expression patterns of approximately 200 genes known to be important during male germ cell development. Approximately 40 of those are included in a group of 121 transcripts for which we report germ cell expression and lack of transcription in three somatic control cell types. Moreover, we demonstrate the testicular expression and transcriptional induction in mitotic, meiotic, and/or postmeiotic germ cells of 293 as yet uncharacterized transcripts, some of which are likely to encode factors involved in spermatogenesis and fertility. This group also contains potential germ cell-specific targets for innovative contraceptives. A graphical display of the data is conveniently accessible through the GermOnline database at http://www.germonline.org.
authors.affiliation: Biozentrum and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 4056 Basel; Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schlecht
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Demougin
authors.forename: Reinhold
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: Leandro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hermida
authors.forename: Christa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wiederkehr
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Descombes
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pineau
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jégou
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Primig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019295:Computational Biology; D005298:Fertility / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008540:Meiosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D012708:Sertoli Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism*; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism