Meilan Pan , Xiaofeng Luo , Zhenzhen Zhang , Jingjing Li , Khuram Shahzad , Zhaxi Danba , Gongbu Caiwang , Wangmu Chilie , Xiaoying Chen , Wangsheng Zhao
{"title":"The expression spectrum of yak epididymal epithelial cells reveals the functional diversity of caput, corpus and cauda regions","authors":"Meilan Pan , Xiaofeng Luo , Zhenzhen Zhang , Jingjing Li , Khuram Shahzad , Zhaxi Danba , Gongbu Caiwang , Wangmu Chilie , Xiaoying Chen , Wangsheng Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.ygeno.2024.110912","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Sperm undergo a series of changes in the epididymis region before acquiring the ability to move and fertilize, and the identification of genes expressed in a region-specific manner in the epididymis provides a valuable insight into functional differences between regions. We collected epididymal tissue from three yaks and cultured epithelial cells from the caput, corpus and cauda regions of the yak epididymis using the tissue block method. RNA sequencing analysis (RNA-seq) technology was used to detect gene expression in yak epididymal caput, corpus and cauda epithelial cells. The results showed that the DEGs were highest in the caput <em>vs.</em> corpus comparison, and lowest in the corpus <em>vs.</em> cauda comparison. Six DEGs were verified by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR), consistent with transcriptome sequencing results. The significantly enriched DNA replication pathway in the caput <em>vs.</em> corpus was coordinated with cell proliferation, while upregulated DEGs such as <em>POLD1</em> and <em>MCM4</em> were found in the DNA replication pathway. The AMPK signaling pathway was found significantly enriched in the caput <em>vs</em> cauda, suggesting its involvement in sperm maturation and capacitation. The TGF beta signaling pathway was screened in the corpus <em>vs</em> cauda and is crucial for mammalian reproductive regulation. Upregulated DEGs (<em>TGFB3</em>, <em>INHBA</em>, <em>INHBB</em>) are involved in the TGF beta signaling pathway. This study provides a reference for culturing yak epididymal epithelial cells <em>in vitro</em>, and elucidates the transcriptional profiles of epithelial cells in different segments of the epididymis, revealing the regulatory and functional differences between different segments, providing basic data for exploring the molecular mechanism of yak sperm maturation and improving the reproductive capacity of high-altitude mammals.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":3,"journal":{"name":"ACS Applied Electronic Materials","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0888754324001332/pdfft?md5=d798ee86c9a0f2d044490f78d2c7beda&pid=1-s2.0-S0888754324001332-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"ACS Applied Electronic Materials","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0888754324001332","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Sperm undergo a series of changes in the epididymis region before acquiring the ability to move and fertilize, and the identification of genes expressed in a region-specific manner in the epididymis provides a valuable insight into functional differences between regions. We collected epididymal tissue from three yaks and cultured epithelial cells from the caput, corpus and cauda regions of the yak epididymis using the tissue block method. RNA sequencing analysis (RNA-seq) technology was used to detect gene expression in yak epididymal caput, corpus and cauda epithelial cells. The results showed that the DEGs were highest in the caput vs. corpus comparison, and lowest in the corpus vs. cauda comparison. Six DEGs were verified by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR), consistent with transcriptome sequencing results. The significantly enriched DNA replication pathway in the caput vs. corpus was coordinated with cell proliferation, while upregulated DEGs such as POLD1 and MCM4 were found in the DNA replication pathway. The AMPK signaling pathway was found significantly enriched in the caput vs cauda, suggesting its involvement in sperm maturation and capacitation. The TGF beta signaling pathway was screened in the corpus vs cauda and is crucial for mammalian reproductive regulation. Upregulated DEGs (TGFB3, INHBA, INHBB) are involved in the TGF beta signaling pathway. This study provides a reference for culturing yak epididymal epithelial cells in vitro, and elucidates the transcriptional profiles of epithelial cells in different segments of the epididymis, revealing the regulatory and functional differences between different segments, providing basic data for exploring the molecular mechanism of yak sperm maturation and improving the reproductive capacity of high-altitude mammals.