| First Author | Mutoji K | Year | 2016 |
| Journal | Biol Reprod | Volume | 95 |
| Issue | 6 | Pages | 117 |
| PubMed ID | 27733379 | Mgi Jnum | J:238221 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5818621 | Doi | 10.1095/biolreprod.116.144220 |
| Citation | Mutoji K, et al. (2016) TSPAN8 Expression Distinguishes Spermatogonial Stem Cells in the Prepubertal Mouse Testis. Biol Reprod 95(6):117 |
| abstractText | Precise separation of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) from progenitor spermatogonia that lack stem cell activity and are committed to differentiation remains a challenge. To distinguish between these spermatogonial subtypes, we identified genes that exhibited bimodal mRNA levels at the single-cell level among undifferentiated spermatogonia from Postnatal Day 6 mouse testes, including Tspan8, Epha2, and Pvr, each of which encode cell surface proteins useful for cell selection. Transplantation studies provided definitive evidence that a TSPAN8-high subpopulation is enriched for SSCs. RNA-seq analyses identified genes differentially expressed between TSPAN8-high and -low subpopulations that clustered into multiple biological pathways potentially involved in SSC renewal or differentiation, respectively. Methyl-seq analysis identified hypomethylated domains in the promoters of these genes in both subpopulations that colocalized with peaks of histone modifications defined by ChIP-seq analysis. Taken together, these results demonstrate functional heterogeneity among mouse undifferentiated spermatogonia and point to key biological characteristics that distinguish SSCs from progenitor spermatogonia. |
