Panoramic transcriptome analysis and functional screening of long noncoding RNAs in mouse spermatogenesis
- Kai Li1,3,
- Jiayue Xu1,3,
- Yanyun Luo1,3,
- Dingfeng Zou1,
- Ruiqin Han1,
- Shunshun Zhong1,
- Qing Zhao1,
- Xinyu Mang1,
- Mengzhen Li1,
- Yanmin Si1,
- Yan Lu1,
- Pengyu Li1,
- Cheng Jin1,
- Zhipeng Wang1,
- Fang Wang1,
- Shiying Miao1,
- Bo Wen2,
- Linfang Wang1,
- Yanni Ma1,
- Jia Yu1 and
- Wei Song1
- 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, State Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, China;
- 2Key Laboratory of Metabolism and Molecular Medicine, Ministry of Education; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
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↵3 These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as diverse functional regulators involved in mammalian development; however, large-scale functional investigation of lncRNAs in mammalian spermatogenesis in vivo is lacking. Here, we delineated the global lncRNA expression landscape in mouse spermatogenesis and identified 968 germ cell signature lncRNAs. By combining bioinformatics and functional screening, we identified three functional lncRNAs (Gm4665, 1700027A15Rik, and 1700052I22Rik) that directly influence spermatogenesis in vivo. Knocking down Gm4665 hampered the development of round spermatids into elongating spermatids and disrupted key spermatogenic gene expression. Mechanistically, lncRNA Gm4665 localized in the nucleus of round spermatids and occupied the genomic regulatory region of important spermatogenic genes including Ip6k1 and Akap3. These findings provide a valuable resource and framework for future functional analysis of lncRNAs in spermatogenesis and their potential roles in other biological processes.
Footnotes
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[Supplemental material is available for this article.]
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Article published online before print. Article, supplemental material, and publication date are at http://www.genome.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gr.264333.120.
- Received April 4, 2020.
- Accepted November 23, 2020.
This article is distributed exclusively by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press for the first six months after the full-issue publication date (see http://genome.cshlp.org/site/misc/terms.xhtml). After six months, it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International), as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
