Laboratory of Small Ruminant Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of the Ministry of Education, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
Mol Biol Rep. 2021 Nov;48(11):7379-7385. doi: 10.1007/s11033-021-06747-6. Epub 2021 Oct 9.
Cryptochrome 1 (cry1), the core regulator of the circadian clock, is essential for ontogeny and mammalian reproduction. Unlike in other tissues, the cry1 gene have noncircadian functions in spermatogenesis, which implies the unique role of cry1 gene in the development of testis. The role of cry1 during the puberty has not been described yet. This study aimed to explore the relationship between cry1 expression and spermatogenic cell numbers.
We analyzed testicular tissues from Hu sheep aged 0-180 days by hematoxylin and eosin staining, measured cry1 and cell proliferation regulatory factors (bricd5, tnfrsf21, cdk1) expression by quantitative real-time PCR and characterized the transcription factor in the 5' flanking region of cry1 gene. The data revealed that the number of spermatocytes and early spermatocytes increased rapidly from 90 to 120 dpp (day postpartum). Correspondingly, there was a marked variation in the cry1 and cell proliferation related genes (bricd5, tnfrsf21, cdk1) mRNA expression in the testes from the age of 90 days to 180 days (p < 0.05). We also identified some transcription factors (tcfl5) related to cell proliferation.
There is a significant causal relationship between the transcription level of cry1 gene in Hu sheep testes and the number of spermatogenic cells. It is speculated that cry1 gene may regulate the proliferation of spermatogenic cells by regulating the expression of cell proliferation related genes such as bricd5, tnfrsf21 and cdk1.
隐色素 1（cry1）是生物钟的核心调节剂，对个体发生和哺乳动物繁殖至关重要。与其他组织不同，cry1 基因在精子发生中具有非节律性功能，这意味着 cry1 基因在睾丸发育中具有独特的作用。cry1 在青春期的作用尚未描述。本研究旨在探讨 cry1 表达与精原细胞数量之间的关系。
我们通过苏木精和伊红染色分析了 0-180 日龄湖羊的睾丸组织，通过定量实时 PCR 测量了 cry1 和细胞增殖调节因子（bricd5、tnfrsf21、cdk1）的表达，并对 cry1 基因 5'侧翼区的转录因子进行了特征分析。数据显示，从 90 日龄到 120 日龄，精母细胞和早期精母细胞的数量迅速增加。相应地，从 90 天到 180 天，睾丸中 cry1 和与细胞增殖相关的基因（bricd5、tnfrsf21、cdk1）的 mRNA 表达有明显变化（p<0.05）。我们还鉴定了一些与细胞增殖相关的转录因子（tcfl5）。
Hu 羊睾丸中 cry1 基因的转录水平与精原细胞数量之间存在显著的因果关系。推测 cry1 基因可能通过调节 bricd5、tnfrsf21 和 cdk1 等细胞增殖相关基因的表达来调节精原细胞的增殖。
