Early transcriptional states of spermatogonia and marker expressions in the prepubertal human testis following chemotherapy-induced depletion.

STUDY QUESTION

Which spermatogonial differentiation states are present in prepubertal testes under normal conditions and following chemotherapy-induced depletion of spermatogonia in paediatric patients with cancer?

SUMMARY ANSWER

Single-cell transcriptomic analysis reveals that only undifferentiated spermatogonia are present in prepubertal boys, while differentiated states emerge during puberty, with reduced protein expression of advanced spermatogonial markers observed in younger patients, those treated with alkylating agents, or those with a diminished spermatogonial pool.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY

Paediatric oncology treatments often involve gonadotoxic therapies that can impair spermatogonial stem cells, increasing the risk of subfertility. While five distinct spermatogonial subpopulations have been identified in adult testes via single-cell RNA sequencing, their presence in prepubertal testes of childhood cancer patients remains to be confirmed through marker protein expression.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: Gene expression profiles of spermatogonial subpopulations were investigated using single-cell RNA sequencing data from six testicular samples of healthy boys aged 0-17 years. Protein expression patterns were examined via immunofluorescence staining in 14 biobank control samples (median age: 4.9 years; range: 0.6-13.1 years) and in 31 prepubertal testicular tissue samples of paediatric patients with cancer (median age: 6.8 years; range: 0.7-13.1 years).

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Gene expression profiles of UTF1 (states 0-1), ID4 (states 0-1), PIWIL4 (states 0-1), FGFR3 (states 0-2), and KIT (state 4), were analysed in testicular cells of paediatric origin obtained from our previously published open-access data source (GSE134144 and GSE120508). The protein expression of these spermatogonial subpopulation markers was evaluated by counting immunofluorescence-positive cells per analysed area. Marker expression was correlated with prior chemotherapy exposure and spermatogonia numbers. Exposure to alkylating agents was quantified as the cumulative cyclophosphamide equivalent dose (CED), and anthracycline exposure as the cumulative doxorubicin isoequivalent dose equivalents (DIE). A depleted spermatogonia pool was defined as having S/T Z-scores lower than -7 SD.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE

Transcriptomic analysis confirmed that germ cells in the prepubertal testis consist solely of undifferentiated spermatogonia. The expression of KIT protein, defining differentiated spermatogonia, was positively correlated with age (P < 0.001). A reduction in the number of spermatogonia expressing ID4 protein was associated with higher CED (P = 0.001), and spermatogonia expressing KIT protein with higher CED and DIE exposure (P = 0.005, and P = 0.035, respectively). A depleted spermatogonia pool (S/T Z-score <-7 SD) correlated with fewer spermatogonia expressing ID4 (P = 0.033), FGFR3 (P = 0.050), and KIT (P = 0.051) proteins. These results indicate that distinct protein expression patterns were observed following chemotherapy-induced reduction of the spermatogonial pool, with reduced expression of ID4, FGFR3, and KIT proteins. Numbers of spermatogonia positive for markers indicating more naïve, undifferentiated states, such as UTF1 and PIWIL4, did not correlate with spermatogonial pool reduction.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: The study population was heterogeneous in terms of age and treatment exposure. Moreover, the impact of specific cancer treatments could not be individually assessed. Limited tissue availability reduced the statistical power of the study, and repeated double or triple immunofluorescence staining could not be performed. As a result, the correlations between the expression of different spermatogonial markers can only be considered indicative trends. Child testicular control tissue samples were considered normal for inclusion if no testicular pathology was reported. However, detailed information on prior medical treatments or testicular volumes for the patients in this biobank was unavailable.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS

Our observations suggest that alkylating agents have dose-dependent effects on all spermatogonial subpopulations. However, spermatogonial subtypes expressing the protein markers UTF1 and PIWIL4 were more resistant to chemotherapy-induced depletion of the spermatogonial pool, potentially representing true reserve stem cells. The identification of reserve stem cells could provide a valuable method for evaluating the fertility potential of testicular tissue collected for fertility preservation in prepubertal and peripubertal boys.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Childhood Cancer Fund (PR2019-0123; PR2022-0115; TJ2020-0023) (J.-B.S.), Finnish Cancer Society (K.J.), Finnish Foundation for Paediatric Research (K.J.), Swedish Research Council (2018-03094; 2021-02107) (J.-B.S.), and Birgitta and Carl-Axel Rydbeck's Research Grant for Paediatric Research (2020-00348; 2020-00335; 2021-00073; 2022-00317, 2024-00255) (J.-B.S., K.J.). Y.C. and Y.Y. received a scholarship from the Chinese Scholarship Council. J.S. was supported by a grant from Mary Béves Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research. H.B.O. was supported by the Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. The authors declare no competing interests.

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