title: Epigenetic regulation of sox30 is associated with testis development in mice.
abstract: DNA methylation is involved in tissue-specific and developmentally regulated gene expression. Here, we screened a novel methylation gene Sox30, whose methylation might contribute to its regulation and testis development in mice. Sox30 is a member of Sox transcription factors, and is considered to be involved in spermatogonial differentiation and spermatogenesis. However, the precise function and regulatory expression pattern remain unclear. In the present study, we found that Sox30 is highly expressed in adult testes but not in ovaries. Sox30 expression begins in early development, and in the testes, it is specifically increased coincidentally with development until adulthood. Moreover, Sox30 is expressed not only in testis germ cells, but also in sertoli cells. Sox30 is hypo-methylated in testis, epididymis and lung of adult mice, in which Sox30 is expressed. By contrast, Sox30 is hypermethylated in ovary, heart, brain, liver, kidney, spleen, pancreas, muscle, intestine, pituitary gland, blood and hippocampus of adult mice, in which the Sox30 is absent. Importantly, decreased methylation at CpG islands of Sox30 is observed in mouse developmental testes after birth, which is associated with enhanced Sox30 expression. However, the hypermethylated status of Sox30 is maintained in ovaries that does not express Sox30 during this period. Further, following demethylation treatment using 5-aza-dC, Sox30 expression is restored in GC2, TM3 and TM4 cell lines. This observation convincingly confirms that methylation really contributes to Sox30 silencing. In summary, we show that Sox30 expression is under the control of DNA methylation status, and this expression pattern is associated with testis development in mice.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Toxicology, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University; Key Laboratory of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Chongqing, PR China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Institute of Toxicology, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University; Key Laboratory of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Chongqing, PR China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Toxicology, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University; Key Laboratory of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Chongqing, PR China.
authors.forename: Wenbin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Toxicology, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University; Key Laboratory of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Chongqing, PR China.
authors.forename: Xuexiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Institute of Toxicology, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University; Key Laboratory of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Chongqing, PR China.
authors.forename: Ronghui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Toxicology, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University; Key Laboratory of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Chongqing, PR China.
authors.forename: Hongqiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Toxicology, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University; Key Laboratory of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Chongqing, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhihong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Institute of Toxicology, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University; Key Laboratory of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Chongqing, PR China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Toxicology, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University; Key Laboratory of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Chongqing, PR China.
authors.forename: Huidong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Toxicology, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University; Key Laboratory of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Chongqing, PR China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Toxicology, College of Preventive Medicine, Third Military Medical University; Key Laboratory of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Chongqing, PR China.
authors.forename: Jinyi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001374:Azacitidine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D002460:Cell Line; D018899:CpG Islands / Q000235:genetics; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000187:drug effects; D000077209:Decitabine; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009928:Organ Specificity; D055747:SOX Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D012708:Sertoli Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D055747:SOX Transcription Factors; C000598356:sox30 protein, mouse; D000077209:Decitabine; D001374:Azacitidine