Transcriptome profiling of the initial segment and proximal caput of mouse epididymis

Xiao Wang; Fanyi Qiu; Junjie Yu; Meiyang Zhou; Anjian Zuo; Xiaojiang Xu; Xiao-Yang Sun; Zhengpin Wang

doi:10.3389/fendo.2023.1190890

Transcriptome profiling of the initial segment and proximal caput of mouse epididymis

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 May 31:14:1190890. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1190890. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xiao Wang¹, Fanyi Qiu¹, Junjie Yu¹, Meiyang Zhou¹, Anjian Zuo², Xiaojiang Xu³, Xiao-Yang Sun¹, Zhengpin Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Cell and Developmental Biology, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
² Department of Bioinformatics, Wanhui Biomedicine Co., LTD., Hangzhou, China.
³ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, United States.

Abstract

Background: The proximal region of the mouse epididymis plays a pivotal role in sperm transport, sperm maturation, and male fertility. Several studies have focused on segment-dependent gene expression of the mouse epididymis through high-throughput sequencing without the precision of the microdissection.

Methods and results: Herein, we isolated the initial segment (IS) and proximal caput (P-caput) by physical microdissection using an Lcn9-cre; Rosa26^tdTomato mouse model. We defined the transcriptome changes of caput epididymis by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), which identified 1,961 genes that were abundantly expressed in the IS and 1,739 genes that were prominently expressed in the P-caput. In addition, we found that many differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were predominantly or uniquely expressed in the epididymis and region-specific genes were highly associated with transport, secretion, sperm motility, fertilization, and male fertility.

Conclusion: Thus, this study provides an RNA-seq resource to identify region-specific genes in the caput epididymis. The epididymal-selective/specific genes are potential targets for male contraception and may provide new insights into understanding segment-specific epididymal microenvironment-mediated sperm transport, maturation, and male fertility.

Keywords: RNA-seq analysis; initial segment; mouse epididymis; proximal caput; sperm maturation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Epididymis* / metabolism
Gene Expression Profiling
Male
Mice
Semen*
Sperm Motility
Spermatozoa / metabolism

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Shandong Excellent Young Scientists Fund Program (Overseas), grant number 2022HWYQ-026; the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, grant number ZR2022MC005; the Qilu Scholarship of Shandong University, grant number 61200082163142; and the Double-First Class Initiative of Shandong University School of Life Sciences, grant number 61200062910000.