title: Expression of the pluripotency marker UTF1 is restricted to a subpopulation of early A spermatogonia in rat testis.
abstract: The population of early A spermatogonia includes stem cells that possess spermatogonial stem cell properties. Recent reports suggest that these cells have the ability to regain pluripotent properties. Here, we show that expression of the pluripotency marker undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor 1 (UTF1) is restricted to distinct germ cells within the testis. In embryonic and neonatal testes, all gonocytes were found to strongly express UTF1. During further testicular development, expression of UTF1 was restricted to a subset of A spermatogonia and with the increase in age the number of cells expressing UTF1 decreased even more. Ultimately, in the adult rat testis, only a small subset of the A spermatogonia expressed UTF1. Remarkably, even in testes of vitamin A-deficient rats, in which the early A spermatogonia (A(s), A(pr), and A(al)) are the only type of spermatogonia, only a subset of the spermatogonia expressed UTF1. In the adult rat testis, expression of UTF1 is restricted to a subpopulation of the ZBTB16 (PLZF)-positive early A spermatogonia. Furthermore, the observed distribution pattern of UTF1-expressing cells over the different stages of the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium suggests that the expression of UTF1 is restricted to those A(s), A(pr), and short chains of A(al) spermatogonia that are in the undifferentiated state and therefore maintain the ability to differentiate into A1 spermatogonia in the next round of the epithelial cycle or possibly even in other directions when they are taken out of their testicular niche.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maaike P A
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: van Bragt
authors.forename: Hermien L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Roepers-Gajadien
authors.forename: Cindy M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Korver
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bogerd
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okuda
authors.forename: Bart J L
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Eggen
authors.forename: Dirk G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: de Rooij
authors.forename: Ans M M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: van Pelt
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001483:Base Sequence; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D015870:Gene Expression; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D000075722:Promyelocytic Leukemia Zinc Finger Protein; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013093:Spermatogonia / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D013737:Testis / Q000196:embryology* / Q000254:growth & development; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D017931:DNA Primers; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D000075722:Promyelocytic Leukemia Zinc Finger Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors; C534028:UTF1 protein, rat; C534029:ZBTB16 protein, rat