Sararols Pauline, Stévant Isabelle, Neirijnck Yasmine, Rebourcet Diane, Darbey Annalucia, Curley Michael K, Kühne Françoise, Dermitzakis Emmanouil, Smith Lee B, Nef Serge
Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
College of Engineering, Science and Environment, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.
Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Jun 28;9:695546. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.695546. eCollection 2021.
Leydig cells (LC) are the main testicular androgen-producing cells. In eutherian mammals, two types of LCs emerge successively during testicular development, fetal Leydig cells (FLCs) and adult Leydig cells (ALCs). Both display significant differences in androgen production and regulation. Using bulk RNA sequencing, we compared the transcriptomes of both LC populations to characterize their specific transcriptional and functional features. Despite similar transcriptomic profiles, a quarter of the genes show significant variations in expression between FLCs and ALCs. Non-transcriptional events, such as alternative splicing was also observed, including a high rate of intron retention in FLCs compared to ALCs. The use of single-cell RNA sequencing data also allowed the identification of nine FLC-specific genes and 50 ALC-specific genes. Expression of the corticotropin-releasing hormone 1 () receptor and the ACTH receptor melanocortin type 2 receptor () specifically in FLCs suggests a dual regulation of steroidogenesis. The androstenedione synthesis by FLCs is stimulated by luteinizing hormone (LH), corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) whereas the testosterone synthesis by ALCs is dependent exclusively on LH. Overall, our study provides a useful database to explore LC development and functions.
睾丸间质细胞（LC）是睾丸中主要的雄激素产生细胞。在真兽亚纲哺乳动物中，两种类型的LC在睾丸发育过程中相继出现，即胎儿睾丸间质细胞（FLC）和成年睾丸间质细胞（ALC）。两者在雄激素产生和调节方面表现出显著差异。我们使用批量RNA测序比较了这两种LC群体的转录组，以表征它们特定的转录和功能特征。尽管转录组谱相似，但四分之一的基因在FLC和ALC之间的表达存在显著差异。还观察到了非转录事件，如可变剪接，与ALC相比，FLC中内含子保留率较高。利用单细胞RNA测序数据还鉴定出9个FLC特异性基因和50个ALC特异性基因。促肾上腺皮质激素释放激素1（）受体和促肾上腺皮质激素（ACTH）受体黑皮质素2型受体（）在FLC中的特异性表达表明了类固醇生成的双重调节。FLC合成雄烯二酮受促黄体生成素（LH）、促肾上腺皮质激素释放激素（CRH）和促肾上腺皮质激素（ACTH）刺激，而ALC合成睾酮则仅依赖于LH。总体而言，我们的研究提供了一个有用的数据库来探索LC的发育和功能。
