Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia.
Development. 2023 Mar 1;150(5). doi: 10.1242/dev.201466. Epub 2023 Mar 9.
During gonadal sex determination, the supporting cell lineage differentiates into Sertoli cells in males and pre-granulosa cells in females. Recently, single cell RNA-seq data have indicated that chicken steroidogenic cells are derived from differentiated supporting cells. This differentiation process is achieved by a sequential upregulation of steroidogenic genes and downregulation of supporting cell markers. The exact mechanism regulating this differentiation process remains unknown. We have identified TOX3 as a previously unreported transcription factor expressed in embryonic Sertoli cells of the chicken testis. TOX3 knockdown in males resulted in increased CYP17A1-positive Leydig cells. TOX3 overexpression in male and female gonads resulted in a significant decline in CYP17A1-positive steroidogenic cells. In ovo knockdown of the testis determinant DMRT1 in male gonads resulted in a downregulation of TOX3 expression. Conversely, DMRT1 overexpression caused an increase in TOX3 expression. Taken together, these data indicate that DMRT1-mediated regulation of TOX3 modulates expansion of the steroidogenic lineage, either directly, via cell lineage allocation, or indirectly, via signaling from the supporting to steroidogenic cell populations.
在性腺性别决定过程中,支持细胞谱系在雄性中分化为支持细胞,在雌性中分化为原始颗粒细胞。最近,单细胞 RNA-seq 数据表明,鸡类固醇生成细胞来源于分化的支持细胞。这种分化过程是通过类固醇生成基因的顺序上调和支持细胞标志物的下调来实现的。调节这种分化过程的确切机制尚不清楚。我们已经确定 TOX3 是一种以前未报道的转录因子,在鸡睾丸的胚胎支持细胞中表达。在雄性中敲低 TOX3 导致 CYP17A1 阳性的 Leydig 细胞增加。TOX3 在雄性和雌性性腺中的过表达导致 CYP17A1 阳性类固醇生成细胞的显著减少。在鸡性腺中,在雄性性腺中敲低睾丸决定因子 DMRT1 导致 TOX3 表达下调。相反,DMRT1 的过表达导致 TOX3 表达增加。综上所述,这些数据表明,DMRT1 介导的 TOX3 调节调节类固醇生成谱系的扩增,要么直接通过细胞谱系分配,要么间接通过支持细胞向类固醇生成细胞群体的信号转导。