School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.
Center for Reproductive Biology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.
Biol Reprod. 2021 Dec 20;105(6):1591-1602. doi: 10.1093/biolre/ioab160.
Sertoli cells are a critical component of the testis environment for their role in maintaining seminiferous tubule structure, establishing the blood-testis barrier, and nourishing maturing germ cells in a specialized niche. This study sought to uncover how Sertoli cells are regulated in the testis environment via germ cell crosstalk in the mouse. We found two major clusters of Sertoli cells as defined by their transcriptomes in Stages VII-VIII of the seminiferous epithelium and a cluster for all other stages. Additionally, we examined transcriptomes of germ cell-deficient testes and found that these existed in a state independent of either of the germ cell-sufficient clusters. Altogether, we highlight two main transcriptional states of Sertoli cells in an unperturbed testis environment, and a germ cell-deficient environment does not allow normal Sertoli cell transcriptome cycling and results in a state unique from either of those seen in Sertoli cells from a germ cell-sufficient environment.
支持细胞是睾丸环境的重要组成部分，因为它们在维持生精小管结构、建立血睾屏障以及在专门的小生境中滋养成熟的生殖细胞方面发挥作用。本研究旨在揭示通过小鼠生殖细胞串扰，睾丸环境中的支持细胞是如何被调控的。我们发现，在生精上皮的 VII-VIII 期，支持细胞的转录组可以分为两个主要的簇，而其他所有阶段的支持细胞则分为一个簇。此外，我们还检查了缺乏生殖细胞的睾丸的转录组，发现这些生殖细胞存在于一种独立于任何一种有足够生殖细胞的簇的状态。总的来说，我们在未受干扰的睾丸环境中强调了支持细胞的两种主要转录状态，而缺乏生殖细胞的环境不允许正常的支持细胞转录组循环，并导致一种与从生殖细胞充足环境中的支持细胞中观察到的状态都不同的状态。
