RESUMO
YAP plays a vital role in controlling growth and differentiation in various cell lineages. Although the expression of YAP in mice testicular and spermatogenic cells suggests its role in mammalian spermatogenesis, the role of YAP in the development of human male germ cells has not yet been determined. Using an in vitro model and a gene editing approach, we generated human spermatogonia stem cell-like cells (hSSLCs) from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and investigated the role of YAP in human spermatogenesis. The results showed that reducing YAP expression during the early stage of spermatogenic differentiation increased the number of PLZF+ hSSLCs and haploid spermatid-like cells. We also demonstrated that the up-regulation of YAP is essential for maintaining spermatogenic cell survival during the later stages of spermatogenic differentiation. The expression of YAP that deviates from this pattern results in a lower number of hSSLCs and an increased level of spermatogenic cell death. Taken together, our result demonstrates that the dynamic expression pattern of YAP is essential for human spermatogenesis. Modulating the level of YAP during human spermatogenesis could improve the production yield of male germ cells derived from hESCs, which could provide the optimization method for in vitro gametogenesis and gain insight into the application in the treatment of male infertility.
Assuntos
Proteínas Adaptadoras de Transdução de Sinal , Diferenciação Celular , Células-Tronco Embrionárias Humanas , Espermatogênese , Fatores de Transcrição , Proteínas de Sinalização YAP , Masculino , Humanos , Células-Tronco Embrionárias Humanas/metabolismo , Células-Tronco Embrionárias Humanas/citologia , Proteínas de Sinalização YAP/metabolismo , Proteínas Adaptadoras de Transdução de Sinal/metabolismo , Proteínas Adaptadoras de Transdução de Sinal/genética , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismo , Fatores de Transcrição/genética , Espermatogônias/metabolismo , Espermatogônias/citologia , Proteína com Dedos de Zinco da Leucemia Promielocítica/metabolismo , Proteína com Dedos de Zinco da Leucemia Promielocítica/genéticaRESUMO
Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line MUSIi020-A was generated from T cells isolated from peripheral blood of a healthy 37-year-old female and reprogrammed using episomal plasmid vectors. The established transgene-free MUSIi020-A, which retained a normal karyotype, displayed pluripotency as characterized by expression of pluripotency markers and by in vitro spontaneous differentiation toward three embryonic germ layers. This cell line may represent a valuable tool for studying T cell development and a potential cell source for cancer immunotherapy.