Differential testicular gene expression in seasonal fertility.

Spermatogenesis is an essential precursor for successful sexual reproduction. Recently, there has been an expansion in the knowledge of the genes associated with particular stages of normal, physiological testicular development and pubertal activation. What has been lacking, however, is an understanding of those genes that are involved in specifically regulating sperm production, rather than in maturation and elaboration of the testis as an organ. By using the reversible (seasonal) fertility of the Syrian hamster as a model system, the authors sought to discover genes that are specifically involved in turning off sperm production and not involved in tissue specification and/or maturation. Using gene expression microarrays and in situ hybridization in hamsters and genetically infertile mice, the authors have identified a variety of known and novel factors involved in reversible, transcriptional, translational, and posttranslational control of testicular function, as well those involved in cell division and macromolecular metabolism. The novel genes uncovered could be potential targets for therapies against fertility disorders.

Light pulse-induced heme and iron-associated transcripts in mouse brain: a microarray analysis.

Synchronization of circadian oscillators with the outside world is achieved by the acute effects of light on the levels of one or more clock components. In mammals the PAS transcription factors Clock, NPAS2, and BMAL1 regulate gene expression as a function of the day-night cycle. Both PAS domains of NPAS2 were found to bind heme as a prosthetic group, form a gas-regulated sensor, and exert heme-status control of DNA binding in vitro. In a microarray analysis comparing overall changes in brain transcript levels between mice subjected to light pulses during the dark phase with animals maintained in darkness, we traced consistent changes in more than 200 different transcripts. Of these, 20 are associated with heme and iron biosynthesis and catabolism. A model for the pathway of induction of heme and iron homeostasis-related transcripts resulting from light pulses suggests that light signals (as stressors) induce transcription of heme oxygenase 2 (Hmox2) and cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (Por), which may serve as a primary line of cellular defense. HMOX2 degrades heme from proteins such as hemoglobin. This degradation generates CO, a signal molecule, and may also change the redox state of the cell by reducing the NADPH/NADP ratio. This could lead to up-regulation of globin gene transcription, thereby releasing iron that in turn controls production of ferritins, and further up-regulating aminolevulinate synthase 2 (Alas2).

Circadian cycling of the mouse liver transcriptome, as revealed by cDNA microarray, is driven by the suprachiasmatic nucleus.

BACKGROUND: Genes encoding the circadian pacemaker in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of mammals have recently been identified, but the molecular basis of circadian timing in peripheral tissue is not well understood. We used a custom-made cDNA microarray to identify mouse liver transcripts that show circadian cycles of abundance under constant conditions. RESULTS: Using two independent tissue sampling and hybridization regimes, we show that approximately 9% of the 2122 genes studied show robust circadian cycling in the liver. These transcripts were categorized by their phase of abundance, defining clusters of day- and night-related genes, and also by the function of their products. Circadian regulation of genes was tissue specific, insofar as novel rhythmic liver genes were not necessarily rhythmic in the brain, even when expressed in the SCN. The rhythmic transcriptome in the periphery is, nevertheless, dependent on the SCN because surgical ablation of the SCN severely dampened or destroyed completely the cyclical expression of both canonical circadian genes and novel genes identified by microarray analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Temporally complex, circadian programming of the transcriptome in a peripheral organ is imposed across a wide range of core cellular functions and is dependent on an interaction between intrinsic, tissue-specific factors and extrinsic regulation by the SCN central pacemaker.

Non-ahr gene susceptibility Loci for porphyria and liver injury induced by the interaction of 'dioxin' with iron overload in mice.

Among the actions of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (dioxin) in mice is the induction of hepatic porphyria. This is similar to the most common disease of this type in humans, sporadic porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT). Evidence is consistent with the actions of dioxin being mediated through binding to the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) with different Ahr alleles in mouse strains apparently accounting for differential downstream gene expression and susceptibility. However, studies of dioxin-induced porphyria and liver injury indicate that the mechanisms must involve interactions with other genes, perhaps associated with iron metabolism. We performed a quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of an F(2) cross between susceptible C57BL/6J (Ahr(b1) allele) and the highly resistant DBA/2 (Ahr(d) allele) strains after treatment with dioxin and iron. For porphyria we found QTLs on chromosomes 11 and 14 in addition to the Ahr gene (chromosome 12). Studies with C57BL/6.D2 Ahr(d) mice confirmed that the Ahr(d) allele alone did not completely negate the response. SWR mice are syngenic for the Ahr(d) allele with the DBA/2 strain but are susceptible to porphyria after elevation of hepatic iron. Analysis of SWRxD2 F(2) mice treated with iron and dioxin showed a QTL on chromosome 11, as well as finding other loci on chromosomes 1 (and possibly 9), for both porphyria and liver injury. These findings show for the first time the location of genes, other than Ahr, that modulate the mechanism of hepatic porphyria and injury caused by dioxin in mice. Orthologous loci may contribute to the pathogenesis of human sporadic PCT.