| First Author | Niu Z | Year | 2011 |
| Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | Volume | 108 |
| Issue | 31 | Pages | 12740-5 |
| PubMed ID | 21768389 | Mgi Jnum | J:176016 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5288124 | Doi | 10.1073/pnas.1109987108 |
| Citation | Niu Z, et al. (2011) MicroRNA-21 regulates the self-renewal of mouse spermatogonial stem cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108(31):12740-5 |
| abstractText | 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-throughput 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, and -146a, are preferentially expressed in the Thy1(+) SSC-enriched population, compared with Thy1(-) somatic cells. Importantly, we demonstrate that transient inhibition of miR-21 in SSC-enriched germ cell cultures increased the number of germ cells undergoing apoptosis and significantly reduced the number of donor-derived colonies of spermatogenesis formed from transplanted treated cells in recipient mouse testes, indicating that miR-21 is important in maintaining the SSC population. Moreover, we show that in SSC-enriched germ cell cultures, miR-21 is regulated by the transcription factor ETV5, known to be critical for SSC self-renewal. |
