Effect of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) on mouse spermatogonial transcriptome profiles
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to understand the genetic mechanisms of Vitamin-A-Deficiency (VAD)-induced arrest of spermatogonial stem-cell differentiation. Vitamin A and its derivatives (the retinoids) participate in many physiological processes including vision, cellular differentiation and reproduction. VAD affects spermatogenesis, the subject of our present study. Spermatogenesis is a highly regulated process of differentiation and complex morphologic alterations that, in the postnatal testis, leads to the formation of sperm in the seminiferous epithelium. VAD causes early cessation of spermatogenesis, characterized by degeneration of meiotic germ cells, leading to seminiferous tubules containing mostly type A spermatogonia and Sertoli cells. In this study, we investigated the molecular basis of VAD on spermatogenesis in mice. We used adult Balb/C mice fed with a Control or VAD diet for an extended period of time (8-28 weeks) and selected two time points (18 and 25 weeks) for microarray analysis. To understand the effect of VAD on the spermatogonial stem cell transcriptome, we studied isolated pure populations of spermatogonia from control and vitamin-A-deficient mice from two representative time points (18 and 25 weeks) using Affymetrix GeneChip microarrays. We identified target genes involved in the arrest of spermatogonial differentiation and spermatogenesis. Our results establish a better understanding of the chronology and magnitude of the consequences of VAD on mouse testes and add to the current knowledge of the molecular regulatory mechanisms of germ cell development.
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus
PROVIDER: GSE23119 | GEO | 2010/08/03
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA131717
REPOSITORIES: GEO
ACCESS DATA