Pan Linlin, Gong Wei, Zhou Yuanyuan, Li Xiaonuan, Yu Jun, Hu Songnian
James D. Watson Institute of Genome Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Genomics Proteomics Bioinformatics. 2014 Oct;12(5):239-48. doi: 10.1016/j.gpb.2014.08.002. Epub 2014 Sep 20.
Ovary development is a complex process involving numerous genes. A well-developed ovary is essential for females to keep fertility and reproduce offspring. In order to gain a better insight into the molecular mechanisms related to the process of mammalian ovary development, we performed a comparative transcriptomic analysis on ovaries isolated from infant and adult mice by using next-generation sequencing technology (SOLiD). We identified 15,454 and 16,646 transcriptionally active genes at the infant and adult stage, respectively. Among these genes, we also identified 7021 differentially expressed genes. Our analysis suggests that, in general, the adult ovary has a higher level of transcriptomic activity. However, it appears that genes related to primordial follicle development, such as those encoding Figla and Nobox, are more active in the infant ovary, whereas expression of genes vital for follicle development, such as Gdf9, Bmp4 and Bmp15, is upregulated in the adult. These data suggest a dynamic shift in gene expression during ovary development and it is apparent that these changes function to facilitate follicle maturation, when additional functional gene studies are considered. Furthermore, our investigation has also revealed several important functional pathways, such as apoptosis, MAPK and steroid biosynthesis, that appear to be much more active in the adult ovary compared to those of the infant. These findings will provide a solid foundation for future studies on ovary development in mice and other mammals and help to expand our understanding of the complex molecular and cellular events that occur during postnatal ovary development.
卵巢发育是一个涉及众多基因的复杂过程。发育良好的卵巢对于雌性保持生育能力和繁殖后代至关重要。为了更深入地了解与哺乳动物卵巢发育过程相关的分子机制，我们使用下一代测序技术（SOLiD）对从幼年和成年小鼠分离的卵巢进行了比较转录组分析。我们分别在幼年和成年阶段鉴定出15454个和16646个转录活性基因。在这些基因中，我们还鉴定出7021个差异表达基因。我们的分析表明，总体而言，成年卵巢具有更高水平的转录组活性。然而，与原始卵泡发育相关的基因，如编码Figla和Nobox的基因，似乎在幼年卵巢中更活跃，而对卵泡发育至关重要的基因，如Gdf9、Bmp4和Bmp15的表达在成年期上调。这些数据表明卵巢发育过程中基因表达存在动态变化，并且当考虑额外的功能基因研究时，这些变化显然有助于卵泡成熟。此外，我们的研究还揭示了几个重要的功能途径，如凋亡、MAPK和类固醇生物合成，与幼年卵巢相比，这些途径在成年卵巢中似乎更为活跃。这些发现将为未来关于小鼠和其他哺乳动物卵巢发育的研究提供坚实的基础，并有助于扩展我们对出生后卵巢发育过程中发生的复杂分子和细胞事件的理解。
