Systematic Variation in mRNA 3′-Processing Signals during Mouse Spermatogenesis
Date
2006-12-08
Authors
Liu, Donglin
Brockman, J. Michael
Dass, Brinda
Hutchins, Lucie N.
Singh, Priyam
McCarrey, John R.
MacDonald, Clinton C.
Graber, Joel H.
Version
OA Version
Citation
Liu, Donglin, J. Michael Brockman, Brinda Dass, Lucie N. Hutchins, Priyam Singh, John R. McCarrey, Clinton C. MacDonald, Joel H. Graber. "Systematic variation in mRNA 3′-processing signals during mouse spermatogenesis" Nucleic Acids Research 35(1): 234-246. (2006)
Abstract
Gene expression and processing during mouse male germ cell maturation (spermatogenesis) is highly specialized. Previous reports have suggested that there is a high incidence of alternative 3′-processing in male germ cell mRNAs, including reduced usage of the canonical polyadenylation signal, AAUAAA. We used EST libraries generated from mouse testicular cells to identify 3′-processing sites used at various stages of spermatogenesis (spermatogonia, spermatocytes and round spermatids) and testicular somatic Sertoli cells. We assessed differences in 3′-processing characteristics in the testicular samples, compared to control sets of widely used 3′-processing sites. Using a new method for comparison of degenerate regulatory elements between sequence samples, we identified significant changes in the use of putative 3′-processing regulatory sequence elements in all spermatogenic cell types. In addition, we observed a trend towards truncated 3′-untranslated regions (3′-UTRs), with the most significant differences apparent in round spermatids. In contrast, Sertoli cells displayed a much smaller trend towards 3′-UTR truncation and no significant difference in 3′-processing regulatory sequences. Finally, we identified a number of genes encoding mRNAs that were specifically subject to alternative 3′-processing during meiosis and postmeiotic development. Our results highlight developmental differences in polyadenylation site choice and in the elements that likely control them during spermatogenesis.