Division of Molecular Life Sciences, Graduate School of Systems Life Science, Kyushu University, Maidashi 3-1-1, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
Department of Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Maidashi 3-1-1, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2017 Feb 2;7:41912. doi: 10.1038/srep41912.
SRY, a sex-determining gene, induces testis development in chromosomally female (XX) individuals. However, mouse XX Sertoli cells carrying Sry (XX/Sry Sertoli cells) are incapable of fully supporting germ cell development, even when the karyotype of the germ cells is XY. While it has therefore been assumed that XX/Sry Sertoli cells are not functionally equivalent to XY Sertoli cells, it has remained unclear which specific functions are affected. To elucidate the functional difference, we compared the gene expression of XY and XX/Sry Sertoli cells. Lactate and cholesterol metabolisms, essential for nursing the developing germ cells, were down-regulated in XX/Sry cells, which appears to be caused at least in part by the differential expression of histone modification enzymes SMCX/SMCY (H3K4me3 demethylase) and UTX/UTY (H3K27me3 demethylase) encoded by the sex chromosomes. We suggest that down-regulation of lactate and cholesterol metabolism that may be due to altered epigenetic modification affects the nursing functions of XX/Sry Sertoli cells.
性别决定基因 SRY 可诱导性染色体为 XX 的女性个体（XX 个体）的睾丸发育。然而，携带 Sry 的 XX 睾丸支持细胞（XX/Sry 睾丸支持细胞）即使其生殖细胞的核型为 XY，也不能完全支持生殖细胞的发育。因此，人们一直认为 XX/Sry 睾丸支持细胞在功能上与 XY 睾丸支持细胞不同，但尚不清楚具体哪些功能受到影响。为了阐明功能差异，我们比较了 XY 和 XX/Sry 睾丸支持细胞的基因表达。对于正在发育的生殖细胞的营养至关重要的乳酸盐和胆固醇代谢在 XX/Sry 细胞中下调，这似乎至少部分是由性染色体编码的组蛋白修饰酶 SMCX/SMCY（H3K4me3 去甲基化酶）和 UTX/UTY（H3K27me3 去甲基化酶）的差异表达引起的。我们认为，可能由于表观遗传修饰改变导致的乳酸盐和胆固醇代谢下调会影响 XX/Sry 睾丸支持细胞的营养功能。
