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12 October 2016 TSPAN8 Expression Distinguishes Spermatogonial Stem Cells in the Prepubertal Mouse Testis
Kazadi Mutoji, Anukriti Singh, Thu Nguyen, Heidi Gildersleeve, Amy V. Kaucher, Melissa J. Oatley, Jon M. Oatley, Ellen K. Velte, Christopher B. Geyer, Keren Cheng, John R. McCarrey, Brian P. Hermann
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Abstract

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.

Kazadi Mutoji, Anukriti Singh, Thu Nguyen, Heidi Gildersleeve, Amy V. Kaucher, Melissa J. Oatley, Jon M. Oatley, Ellen K. Velte, Christopher B. Geyer, Keren Cheng, John R. McCarrey, and Brian P. Hermann "TSPAN8 Expression Distinguishes Spermatogonial Stem Cells in the Prepubertal Mouse Testis," Biology of Reproduction 95(6), (12 October 2016). https://doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod.116.144220
Received: 12 August 2016; Accepted: 1 October 2016; Published: 12 October 2016
KEYWORDS
epigenetics
single-cell
spermatogonial stem cells
surface marker
transcriptome
Transplantation
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