Comprehensive analysis of long non-coding RNA expression profiles of GC-1spg cells with m6A methylation knockdown

Dandan Zhong; Chengxuan Yao; Liyin Zhang; Jian Wang; Qingyou Liu; Deshun Shi; Mingsheng Jiang; Hui Li

doi:10.1016/j.gene.2023.147430

Comprehensive analysis of long non-coding RNA expression profiles of GC-1spg cells with m6A methylation knockdown

Gene. 2023 Jun 30:871:147430. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2023.147430. Epub 2023 Apr 14.

Authors

Dandan Zhong¹, Chengxuan Yao¹, Liyin Zhang¹, Jian Wang¹, Qingyou Liu², Deshun Shi¹, Mingsheng Jiang³, Hui Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Molecular Design and Precise Breeding, School of Life Science and Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan 528225, China.
³ State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China. Electronic address: 13878896387@163.com.
⁴ State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China. Electronic address: huili@gxu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37062454
DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2023.147430

Abstract

Spermatogenesis is a complex process that requires many regulatory mechanisms to form healthy sperm. Numerous studies have also proved that m6A methylation modification and lncRNA are essential for normal spermatogenesis. However, the mutual regulation of m6A methylation and lncRNA in spermatogenesis is still unclear. In this study, we knocked down METTL3 in GC-1spg cells and found that a reduction in METTL3 increased cell proliferation. Further, we examined the lncRNA expression profiles of normal spermatogonia and spermatogonia with knocked down METTL3. We detected 30,924 lncRNAs, of which 34 were up-regulated and 77 down-regulated. The results of the MeRIP-qPCR experiment showed that ENSMUST00000186472, MSTRG.8019.3 and ENSMUST00000202148 had m6A methylation sites and were regulated by METTL3. We constructed ceRNA networks for these 3 lncRNAs. And we identified that these 3 lncRNAs might act as miRNA sponges to regulate some genes related to spermatogenesis. This study focuses on exploring the regulatory mechanisms of m6A methylation on lncRNAs in spermatogonia and provides some epigenetic theories for subsequent studies on the expression mechanisms of lncRNAs.

Keywords: LncRNA; METTL3; RNA seq; Spermatogenesis; m6A methylation.

MeSH terms

Cell Proliferation / genetics
Humans
Male
Methylation
Methyltransferases / genetics
Methyltransferases / metabolism
MicroRNAs* / genetics
RNA, Long Noncoding* / genetics
RNA, Long Noncoding* / metabolism
Semen / metabolism

Substances

RNA, Long Noncoding
Methyltransferases
MicroRNAs