Key Laboratory of Organ Regeneration and Reconstruction, State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Beijing, China.
Commun Biol. 2024 Nov 9;7(1):1478. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-07163-9.
The pig is an important model for studying human diseases and is also a significant livestock species, yet its testicular development remains underexplored. Here, we employ single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize the transcriptomic landscapes across multiple developmental stages of Bama pig testes from fetal stage through infancy, puberty to adulthood, and made comparisons with those of humans and mice. We reveal an exceptionally early onset of porcine meiosis shortly after birth, and identify a distinct subtype of porcine spermatogonia resembling transcriptome state 0 spermatogonial stem cells identified in humans, which were previously thought to be primate specific. We also discover the persistent presence of proliferating progenitors for myoid cells in postnatal testes. The regulatory roles of Leydig cell steroidogenesis and estrogen synthesis in supporting cell lineages are also explored, including the potential impact of estrogen on Sertoli cell maturation and spermatogenesis. Overall, this study offers valuable insights into porcine testicular development, paving the way for future research in reproductive biology, advancements in agricultural breeding, and potential applications in translational medicine.
猪是研究人类疾病的重要模型，也是重要的家畜物种，但它的睾丸发育仍未得到充分探索。在这里，我们采用单细胞 RNA 测序技术，对巴马猪睾丸从胎儿期到婴儿期、青春期到成年期的多个发育阶段的转录组图谱进行了描述，并与人类和小鼠进行了比较。我们揭示了猪减数分裂在出生后不久即异常早地开始，并且鉴定出一种独特的猪精原细胞亚型，其转录组状态类似于在人类中鉴定到的状态 0 精原干细胞，而此前人们认为这种状态 0 精原干细胞是灵长类动物所特有的。我们还发现了生后睾丸中肌样细胞祖细胞持续存在的增殖。此外，还探索了间质细胞类固醇生成和雌激素合成在支持细胞谱系中的调控作用，包括雌激素对支持细胞成熟和精子发生的潜在影响。总的来说，这项研究为猪睾丸发育提供了有价值的见解，为生殖生物学的未来研究、农业育种的进展以及转化医学的潜在应用铺平了道路。
