Project description:Brdt is a testis specific member of a family of chromatin interacting proteins. All of the family members have been shown to regulate transcription. Brdt is highly expressed in round spermatids, and may play a role in transcriptional regulation in these cells. We investigated transcriptional changes in mutant round spermatids that were homozygous for a mutation in which the first bromodomain of Brdt was removed. Round spermatids were purified from seven adult animals of each genotype for each Affymetrix microarray. Purity of round spermatids was assessed by propidium iodide staining.
Project description:Brdt is a testis specific member of a family of chromatin interacting proteins. All of the family members have been shown to regulate transcription. Brdt is highly expressed in round spermatids, and may play a role in transcriptional regulation in these cells. We investigated transcriptional changes in mutant round spermatids that were homozygous for a mutation in which the first bromodomain of Brdt was removed.
Project description:To investigate the gene expression changes observed with aging in round spermatids from Brown Norway rats. We then performed gene expression analysis using data obtained from RNA-seq of round spermatids at two time points.
Project description:Gene expression during spermatogenesis undergoes significant changes due to a demanding sequence of mitosis, meiosis and differentiation. Round spermatids have to prepare for DNA condensation as well as synthesize transcripts of genes required for the differentiation process. However, the mechanisms of gene activation and silencing in round spermatids remain largely unknown. We employed ChIP-seq to figure out the correlation of H3K4me3 and H3K9me3 marks with transcriptional activation and silencing in round spermatids. Out of about 2800 genes identified by H3K4me3 chipseq, transcriptome sequencing in purified round spermatids showed the presence of transcripts corresponding to about 64% of the genes. On the other hand, only about 25% of H3K9me3 enriched genes showed transcription in round spermatids, that too at very low levels. In conclusion, H3K4me3 enrichment in round spermatids correlates significantly with gene expression and H3K9me3 correlates with gene silencing, both of which are equally important for successful spermatogenesis.