Sequencing of microRNA in spermatogonial stem cell enriched cell populations.

MicroRNAs (miRs) play a key role in the control of gene expression in a wide array of tissue systems where their functions include the regulation of self-renewal, cellular differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. However, the functional importance of individual miRs in controlling spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) homeostasis has not been investigated. Using high-throughout sequencing, we profiled the expression of miRs in the Thy1+ testis cell population, which is highly enriched for SSCs, and the Thy1- cell population, composed primarily of testis somatic cells. In addition, we profiled the global expression of miRs in cultured germ cells, also enriched for SSCs. Our results demonstrate that miR-21, along with miR-34c, -182, -183, -146a, -465a-3p, -465b-3p, -465c-3p, and -465c-5p are preferentially expressed in the Thy1+ SSC-enriched population, as compared to Thy1- somatic cells, and we further observed that Thy1+ SSC-enriched testis cells and SSC-enriched cultured germ cells share remarkably similar miR expression profiles. Overall design: Spermatogonial Stem Cell enriched cell populations (freshly isolated and short-term cultured) and somatic cell populations were isolated from C57B/L6 mouse donors and subjected to small RNA isolation and sequencing.

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Niu Z, Goodyear SM, Rao S, Wu X, Tobias JW, Avarbock MR, Brinster RL