title: MicroRNA profiles and potential regulatory pattern during the early stage of spermatogenesis in mice.
abstract: Spermatogenesis is a complicated and poorly understood process that relies on the precise regulation of the self-renewal and differentiation of spermatogonia. In many organisms, microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in multiple developmental processes as critical regulators of transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene silencing. This study investigated the expression pattern of miRNAs in type B spermatogonia cells (BSc) and primary spermatocytes (PSc) of mice, using a high-throughput small RNA sequencing system. The results revealed that the expression levels of Let-7 family miRNAs were remarkably high in both cell types. Furthermore, the expression levels of miR-21, miR-140-3p, miR-103, miR-30a, miR-101b and miR-99b were decreased during the transformation from BSc to PSc. These miRNAs target vital genes that participate in apoptosis, cell proliferation and differentiation, junction assembly and cell cycle regulation. These results highlight the indispensable role of miRNAs in spermatogenesis.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, College of Psychology, Hebei United University, Tangshan, 063000, China.
authors.forename: MengMeng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: LiLi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: Fen
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: YaNan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: LiXia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gou
authors.forename: WenDian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: YuHui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: MengChun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: SongNian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: XiuJun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D005819:Genetic Markers; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008957:Models, Genetic; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D013090:Spermatocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D013093:Spermatogonia / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; D035683:MicroRNAs; C542687:mirnlet7 microRNA, mouse