机构:[1]Department of Reproduction and Genetics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China外科科室生殖遗传科昆明医科大学附属第一医院[2]Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China内科科室神经内科昆明医科大学附属第一医院[3]Family Planning Research Institute, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
This study aimed to investigate the role of microRNA (miRNA) in heat stress-induced spermatogenic impairment. Testes from 15 adult ICR mice subjected to testicular hyperthermia at 43 degrees C for 30 min and from 15 control mice were collected and pooled into 3 samples. Isolated RNA from these samples was subjected to small RNA high-throughput sequencing, and differentially expressed miRNAs were identified and validated using RT-PCR. The identified miRNAs were further subjected to Gene Ontology and KEGG analyses, which revealed significant enrichment for pathways potentially involved in heat stress-induced spermatogenic impairment. Additionally, a correlation analysis of the relative levels of validated miRNAs with germ cell apoptosis was performed. Of the 11 miRNAs identified as differentially expressed, 8 were validated as consistent with sequencing data. Further analyses suggested that the target genes of those miRNAs were involved in various pathways (e.g., ribosomal, HIF-1, MAPK) that may be critical to heat stress-induced testicular damage. Some identified miRNAs, including miR-449a-3p, miR-92a-1-5p, miR-423-3p, and miR-128-3p, correlated closely with germ cell apoptosis. The study results reveal a detailed miRNA profile of heat stress-induced testicular damage and highlight new and potentially important candidate targets in the process of male infertility.
基金:
National Key Research and Development Program of China [2016YFC1000903]; National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China [81671507]; Huazhong University of Science and Technology [2016YXMS164]; Health and Family Planning Commission Program of Hubei Province [WJ2017M056]