During spermatogenesis, diploid stem cells differentiate, undergo meiosis, and transform into haploid spermatozoa. As this precisely timed series of events proceeds, chromosomal ploidy is reduced, and the nucleosomes of the chromatin are replaced by a transcriptionally quiescent protamine-containing nucleus. The premature termination of transcription during the haploid phase of spermatogenesis necessitates an especially prominent role for posttranscriptional regulation in the temporal and spatial expression of many testis-specific proteins and isozymes. In this review article, discussion will focus on novel mechanisms regulating gene expression in mammalian male germ cells from genome to protein. BioEssays20:555–561, 1998. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Molecular mechanisms of male germ cell differentiation

A possible meiotic function of the peculiar patterns of gene expression in mammalian spermatogenic cells

The expression of a wide variety of genes is developmentally regulated during mammalian meiosis. Drawing mainly on studies in spermatogenesis, this review shows that some of these genes are transcribed exclusively in germ cells, while others are also transcribed in somatic cells. Some of the genes expressed exclusively in spermatogenic cells are unlike any expressed in somatic cells, while others are isologous to genes expressed in somatic cells and are in the same gene family. Some of the developmentally regulated genes also expressed in somatic cells produce spermatogenic cell-specific transcripts, while others produce transcripts that are apparently the same in somatic and germ cells. Possible answers to why so many genes have atypical patterns of expression during meiosis are that: (1) all cell types express certain genes that define their cell type and lineage, (2) spermatogenesis is a developmental process that progresses according to a genetic program directing the sequential and coordinate expression of specific genes, (3) some genes are expressed that encode proteins required for meiosis, (4) some genes are expressed that encode proteins not required until after meiosis, (5) some genes are expressed to compensate for other genes that become inactivated with X chromosome condensation, and (6) it has been suggested that regulation of gene expression becomes leaky during spermatogenesis due to changes in DNA organization, leading to production of irrelevant transcripts. However, it is largely unknown how extrinsic cues from the endocrine system and surrounding somatic cells interact with intrinsic mechanisms of germ cells to activate signal transduction processes regulating transcription during mammalian meiosis.

Gene expression during mammalian meiosis.

The translational activity of more than 40 different mRNAs in rodent testes has been analyzed by determining the proportions of inactive free-mRNPs and active polysomal mRNAs in sucrose gradients. These mRNAs can be sorted into several groups comprising mRNAs with similar patterns of translational activity in particular cell types. mRNAs in testicular somatic cells sediment primarily with polysomes, indicating that they are translated efficiently, whereas the vast majority of mRNAs in late meiotic and haploid spermatogenic cells display high levels of free-mRNPs, indicative of a block to the initiation of translation. Protamine mRNAs exemplify a group of mRNAs that is transcribed in round spermatids, stored as free-mRNPs for several days, and translated in elongated spermatids after the cessation of transcription. The extent to which the free-mRNPs in primary spermatocytes and round spermatids are due to developmental changes in translational activity is unclear. mRNAs at these stages can often be detected earlier than the corresponding protein, implicating either a delay in translational activation or difficulties in detecting the protein. In contrast, sucrose gradients consistently indicate little difference in the proportions of various mRNAs in free-mRNPs in primary spermatocytes and round spermatids, implying that the proportions of translationally active mRNAs remain essentially constant. Since the levels of some mRNAs appear to greatly exceed the amount that is translated, the biological significance of some free-mRNPs in meiotic and early haploid cells in unclear. There are numerous examples of controls over the translation of individual mRNAs in meiotic and haploid cells; the proportions of various mRNAs in free-mRNPs range from virtually none to virtually all, and individual mRNAs are activated at specific stages in elongated spermatids. Existing evidence is contradictory whether the mRNAs in the protamine/transition protein gene family are repressed by mRNP proteins of sequestration. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/%28SICI%291098-2795%28199602%2943%3A2%3C268%3A%3AAID-MRD17%3E3.0.CO%3B2-%23

Patterns of translational regulation in the mammalian testis

Here we report the isolation and characterization of mouse testicular cDNAs encoding the mammalian homologue of the Xenopus germ cell-specific nucleic acid-binding protein FRGY2 (mRNP3+4), hereafter designated MSY2. MSY2 is a member of the Y box multigene family of proteins; it contains the cold shock domain that is highly conserved among all Y box proteins and four basic/aromatic islands that are closely related to the other known germline Y box proteins from Xenopus, FRGY2, and goldfish, GFYP2. Msy2 undergoes alternative splicing to yield alternate N-terminal regions upstream of the cold shock domain. Although MSY2 is a member of a large family of nucleic acid-binding proteins, Southern blotting detects only a limited number of genomic DNA fragments, suggesting that Msy2 is a single copy gene. By Northern blotting and immunoblotting, MSY2 appears to be a germ cell-specific protein in the testis. Analysis of Msy2 mRNA expression in prepubertal and adult mouse testes, and in isolated populations of germ cells, reveals maximal expression in postmeiotic round spermatids, a cell type with abundant amounts of stored messenger ribonucleoproteins. In the ovary, MSY2 is present exclusively in diplotene-stage and mature oocytes. MSY2 is maternally inherited in the one-cell-stage embryo but is not detected in the late two-cell-stage embryo. This loss of MSY2 is coincident with the bulk degradation of maternal mRNAs in the two-cell embryo.

/pdf/mammalian-male-and-female-germ-cells-express-a-germ-cell-xclm6tglec.pdf

Mammalian Male and Female Germ Cells Express a Germ Cell-Specific Y-Box Protein, MSY2

The poly(A) binding protein (PABP), a conserved protein that binds to the 3′ poly(A) tail on mRNAs in eukaryotic cells, has been implicated in the regulation of mRNA stability and translation. Two PABP cDNAs with different sequences were isolated from mouse testis cDNA libraries. The predicted amino acid sequence of one, PABP1, is nearly identical (98.9%) to human liver PABP, while 80% of the amino acids of the second, PABPt, are identical to mouse and human PABPs. Northern blots reveal that there is one major PABP mRNA species in liver, muscle, kidney, and brain, two in spleen, and at least four in testis. The levels of PABP mRNA in testis are 5–10-fold higher than in these somatic tissues, but surprisingly the vast majority of all PABP mRNA size variants sediment more slowly than single ribosome, indicating strong translational repression. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assays demonstrate that PABPt mRNAs are abundant only in testis. Northern blots of RNAs purified from highly enriched spermatogenic cells show that the high levels, multiple sizes of PABP mRNAs, and the PABPt mRNA are present in meiotic and early haploid spermatogenic cells, and are sharply reduced in late haploid cells. Comparison of the binding of PABP1 and PABPt to poly(A) Sepharose in vitro revealed subtle differences, even though PABPt contains substitutions for highly conserved aromatic amino acids that are thought to be necessary for binding to poly(A). The existence of two PABP isoforms in mouse spermatogenic cells could influence cytoplasmic gene expression during spermatogenesis. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Shih D

Papers

Developmental expression of poly(A) binding protein mRNAs during spermatogenesis in the mouse.