Comparative RNA-Seq analysis of differentially expressed genes in the sertoli cells of yak and cattle-yak

Abstract Background To study the problem of male sterility of cattle-yak and improve the yak crossbreeding, this study obtained the testicular Sertoli cells of yak and cattle-yak and compared the differences in transcriptome levels between the two bovine species. The testicular tissues of 3 healthy...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xue-Mei Chen, Ming-Xiu Wang, Peng Zhang, Ke-Min Jing, Bing-Lin Yue, Zhi-Juan Wu, Zhi-Xin Chai, Xin-Rui Liu, Jin-Cheng Zhong, Xin Cai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-02-01
Series:BMC Veterinary Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-04540-2
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850190850335703040
author Xue-Mei Chen
Ming-Xiu Wang
Peng Zhang
Ke-Min Jing
Bing-Lin Yue
Zhi-Juan Wu
Zhi-Xin Chai
Xin-Rui Liu
Jin-Cheng Zhong
Xin Cai
author_facet Xue-Mei Chen
Ming-Xiu Wang
Peng Zhang
Ke-Min Jing
Bing-Lin Yue
Zhi-Juan Wu
Zhi-Xin Chai
Xin-Rui Liu
Jin-Cheng Zhong
Xin Cai
author_sort Xue-Mei Chen
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background To study the problem of male sterility of cattle-yak and improve the yak crossbreeding, this study obtained the testicular Sertoli cells of yak and cattle-yak and compared the differences in transcriptome levels between the two bovine species. The testicular tissues of 3 healthy male cattle-yaks and 3 F1 generation male yaks were collected at the age of 24 months. The Sertoli cells were isolated after enzymatic digestion, differential adhesion and starvation treatment. DATA-4 and SOX9 immunofluorescence staining were used to identify the cell type. Sertoli cells were subjected to transcriptome sequencing, GO analysis, KEGG analysis and differentially expressed gene were validated by RT-qPCR and Western blotting. Results The study successfully isolated and purified Sertoli cells of yak and cattle-yak. The transcriptome sequencing data were compared, analyzed and annotated. Compared to yak Sertoli cells, 6592 differentially expressed genes were identified, with 3007 genes upregulated and 3585 genes downregulated in cattle-yak Sertoli cells. GO analysis suggested that the upregulated genes might be mainly involved in processes such as translation, peptide biosynthetic process, amide biosynthetic process, peptide metabolic process, ribosome, cytoplasmic part, structural constituent of ribosome, structural molecule activity, endomembrane system, protein kinase activity, and phosphotransferase activity. The downregulated genes appeared to be primarily involved in protein phosphorylation, phosphorylation, endomembrane system, protein kinase activity, and phosphotransferase activity. KEGG analysis compared differential genes across 316 pathways, with 8 pathways showing significant enrichment. The upregulated pathways were potentially enriched in cattle-yak Sertoli cells, including ribosome, thermogenesis, and oxidative phosphorylation, while the downregulated pathways seemed to be significantly enriched in adherens junction, mTOR signaling pathway, AMPK signaling pathway, FoxO signaling pathway, and focal adhesion. Compared with yak Sertoli cells, ISOC2, RPL27A and FISI were highly expressed in cattle-yak, as confirmed by RT-qPCR analysis. PDPN, SORBS2, TF, PLSCR1, TJP2, KIF2C, ITGA3, SMTNL2, DSP, ADGRG1, DDR1, GSK3A, RBBP6, ZC3H15 and Claudin 11 showed low expression levels in cattle-yak. Conclusions Compared with yak Sertoli cells, the expression of genes related to protein activation, cell function, and membranous organelle composition in cattle-yak Sertoli cells appeared to be abnormal. The potential defects in cattle-yak Sertoli cells may hinder the creation of a suitable environment for spermatogenesis, which could be one of the factors contributing to male cattle-yak sterility. Claudin-11 might be a potentially important gene for further research into cattle-yak male sterility.
format Article
id doaj-art-0bf78c0913cf44f8a33716f4a3299b6a
institution OA Journals
issn 1746-6148
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series BMC Veterinary Research
spelling doaj-art-0bf78c0913cf44f8a33716f4a3299b6a2025-08-20T02:15:08ZengBMCBMC Veterinary Research1746-61482025-02-0121111310.1186/s12917-025-04540-2Comparative RNA-Seq analysis of differentially expressed genes in the sertoli cells of yak and cattle-yakXue-Mei Chen0Ming-Xiu Wang1Peng Zhang2Ke-Min Jing3Bing-Lin Yue4Zhi-Juan Wu5Zhi-Xin Chai6Xin-Rui Liu7Jin-Cheng Zhong8Xin Cai9Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Utilization, Sichuan Province and Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu UniversityKey Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Utilization, Sichuan Province and Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu UniversityKey Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Utilization, Sichuan Province and Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu UniversityKey Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Utilization, Sichuan Province and Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu UniversityKey Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Utilization, Sichuan Province and Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu UniversityKey Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Utilization, Sichuan Province and Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu UniversityKey Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Utilization, Sichuan Province and Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu UniversityKey Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Utilization, Sichuan Province and Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu UniversityKey Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Utilization, Sichuan Province and Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu UniversityKey Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Utilization, Sichuan Province and Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu UniversityAbstract Background To study the problem of male sterility of cattle-yak and improve the yak crossbreeding, this study obtained the testicular Sertoli cells of yak and cattle-yak and compared the differences in transcriptome levels between the two bovine species. The testicular tissues of 3 healthy male cattle-yaks and 3 F1 generation male yaks were collected at the age of 24 months. The Sertoli cells were isolated after enzymatic digestion, differential adhesion and starvation treatment. DATA-4 and SOX9 immunofluorescence staining were used to identify the cell type. Sertoli cells were subjected to transcriptome sequencing, GO analysis, KEGG analysis and differentially expressed gene were validated by RT-qPCR and Western blotting. Results The study successfully isolated and purified Sertoli cells of yak and cattle-yak. The transcriptome sequencing data were compared, analyzed and annotated. Compared to yak Sertoli cells, 6592 differentially expressed genes were identified, with 3007 genes upregulated and 3585 genes downregulated in cattle-yak Sertoli cells. GO analysis suggested that the upregulated genes might be mainly involved in processes such as translation, peptide biosynthetic process, amide biosynthetic process, peptide metabolic process, ribosome, cytoplasmic part, structural constituent of ribosome, structural molecule activity, endomembrane system, protein kinase activity, and phosphotransferase activity. The downregulated genes appeared to be primarily involved in protein phosphorylation, phosphorylation, endomembrane system, protein kinase activity, and phosphotransferase activity. KEGG analysis compared differential genes across 316 pathways, with 8 pathways showing significant enrichment. The upregulated pathways were potentially enriched in cattle-yak Sertoli cells, including ribosome, thermogenesis, and oxidative phosphorylation, while the downregulated pathways seemed to be significantly enriched in adherens junction, mTOR signaling pathway, AMPK signaling pathway, FoxO signaling pathway, and focal adhesion. Compared with yak Sertoli cells, ISOC2, RPL27A and FISI were highly expressed in cattle-yak, as confirmed by RT-qPCR analysis. PDPN, SORBS2, TF, PLSCR1, TJP2, KIF2C, ITGA3, SMTNL2, DSP, ADGRG1, DDR1, GSK3A, RBBP6, ZC3H15 and Claudin 11 showed low expression levels in cattle-yak. Conclusions Compared with yak Sertoli cells, the expression of genes related to protein activation, cell function, and membranous organelle composition in cattle-yak Sertoli cells appeared to be abnormal. The potential defects in cattle-yak Sertoli cells may hinder the creation of a suitable environment for spermatogenesis, which could be one of the factors contributing to male cattle-yak sterility. Claudin-11 might be a potentially important gene for further research into cattle-yak male sterility.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-04540-2YakCattle-yakSertoli cellsMale sterilityRNA-Seq
spellingShingle Xue-Mei Chen
Ming-Xiu Wang
Peng Zhang
Ke-Min Jing
Bing-Lin Yue
Zhi-Juan Wu
Zhi-Xin Chai
Xin-Rui Liu
Jin-Cheng Zhong
Xin Cai
Comparative RNA-Seq analysis of differentially expressed genes in the sertoli cells of yak and cattle-yak
BMC Veterinary Research
Yak
Cattle-yak
Sertoli cells
Male sterility
RNA-Seq
title Comparative RNA-Seq analysis of differentially expressed genes in the sertoli cells of yak and cattle-yak
title_full Comparative RNA-Seq analysis of differentially expressed genes in the sertoli cells of yak and cattle-yak
title_fullStr Comparative RNA-Seq analysis of differentially expressed genes in the sertoli cells of yak and cattle-yak
title_full_unstemmed Comparative RNA-Seq analysis of differentially expressed genes in the sertoli cells of yak and cattle-yak
title_short Comparative RNA-Seq analysis of differentially expressed genes in the sertoli cells of yak and cattle-yak
title_sort comparative rna seq analysis of differentially expressed genes in the sertoli cells of yak and cattle yak
topic Yak
Cattle-yak
Sertoli cells
Male sterility
RNA-Seq
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-025-04540-2
work_keys_str_mv AT xuemeichen comparativernaseqanalysisofdifferentiallyexpressedgenesinthesertolicellsofyakandcattleyak
AT mingxiuwang comparativernaseqanalysisofdifferentiallyexpressedgenesinthesertolicellsofyakandcattleyak
AT pengzhang comparativernaseqanalysisofdifferentiallyexpressedgenesinthesertolicellsofyakandcattleyak
AT keminjing comparativernaseqanalysisofdifferentiallyexpressedgenesinthesertolicellsofyakandcattleyak
AT binglinyue comparativernaseqanalysisofdifferentiallyexpressedgenesinthesertolicellsofyakandcattleyak
AT zhijuanwu comparativernaseqanalysisofdifferentiallyexpressedgenesinthesertolicellsofyakandcattleyak
AT zhixinchai comparativernaseqanalysisofdifferentiallyexpressedgenesinthesertolicellsofyakandcattleyak
AT xinruiliu comparativernaseqanalysisofdifferentiallyexpressedgenesinthesertolicellsofyakandcattleyak
AT jinchengzhong comparativernaseqanalysisofdifferentiallyexpressedgenesinthesertolicellsofyakandcattleyak
AT xincai comparativernaseqanalysisofdifferentiallyexpressedgenesinthesertolicellsofyakandcattleyak