Identification and Characterization of Piwi-Interacting RNAs for Early Testicular Development in Yak

Normal testicular development plays a crucial role in male reproduction and is the precondition for spermatogenesis. PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are novel noncoding RNAs expressed in animal germ cells that form complexes with PIWI family proteins and are involved in germ cell development, differe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2022-10, Vol.23 (20), p.12320
Main Authors: La, Yongfu, Ma, Xiaoming, Bao, Pengjia, Chu, Min, Yan, Ping, Guo, Xian, Liang, Chunnian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cell differentiation
Gene expression
Gene set enrichment analysis
Genomes
Germ cells
Physiology
Proteins
Reproductive health
Spermatogenesis
Testes
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Summary:Normal testicular development plays a crucial role in male reproduction and is the precondition for spermatogenesis. PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are novel noncoding RNAs expressed in animal germ cells that form complexes with PIWI family proteins and are involved in germ cell development, differentiation, and spermatogenesis. However, changes in piRNA expression profiles during early testicular development in yak have not been investigated. In this study, we used small RNA sequencing to evaluate the differences and potential functions of piRNA expression profiles in 6-, 18-, and 30-month-old yak testis tissues. Differential expression analysis found 109, 293, and 336 differentially expressed piRNAs in M30 vs. M18, M18 vs. M6, and M30 vs. M6, respectively, and found 30 common differentially expressed piRNAs in the three groups of M6, M18, and M30. In addition, the functional enrichment analysis of differentially expressed piRNAs target genes indicated that they were related to testicular development and spermatogenesis. Finally, we detected the expression of the PIWI protein family in the yak testis at different developmental stages and found that PIWIL1, PIWIL2, PIWIL3, and PIWIL4 were highly expressed in 18- and 30-month-old yak testis and almost not expressed in 6-month-old yak testis. In conclusion, this study summarizes the changes of piRNA expression patterns during the early development of yak testis and provides new clues for the regulatory role of piRNA in yak testis.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms232012320