Basing RNA-seq explored the regulatory mechanism of the carbohydrate metabolism pathways during chicken male germ cell differentiation
IN VITRO CELLULAR & DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY-ANIMAL
Authors: Lian, Chao; Zuo, Qisheng; Li, Dong; Zhang, Lei; Ahmed, Mahmoud F.; Xiao, Tianrong; Tang, Beibei; Wang, Yingjie; Jin, Kai; Zhang, Yani; Li, Bichun
Abstract
Our study aimed to explore the regulatory mechanism of the carbohydrate metabolism signaling pathways and related genes during the differentiation of chicken embryonic stem cells to male germ cells, providing the basis for improving the efficiency of the in vitro induction system. Cell sorting was used to obtain highly purified embryonic stem cells (ESCs), primitive germ cells (PGCs), and spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs). The total RNA was then extracted from each cell type. The transcriptions of ESCs, PGCs, and SSCs were sequenced by DNA microarray and mRNA sequencing (RNA-seq). The results were analyzed by gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway database. The key pathways and genes of carbohydrate metabolism were screened during the differentiation process of chicken male germ cell. We concluded that 419 differentially expressed genes enriched to 26 carbohydrate metabolism pathways during the differentiation process of ESCs to SSCs, all of the chondroitin sulfate (CS) signaling pathway was significant. We screened the key genes CHSY3, B3GAT1, CHPF, and B4GALT7 which was significantly expressed in CS pathway. Quantitative RT-PCR showed that the expression trend of these genes is consistent with DNA Microarray and RNA-seq results. Our study supports the opinion that CS pathway is significantly different during the differentiation of chicken male germ cell (P < 0.05) and that CHSY3, B3GAT1, CHPF, and B4GALT7 are key genes.
beta-1,3-glucuronyltransferase-1 gene implicated as a candidate for a schizophrenia-like psychosis through molecular analysis of a balanced translocation
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
Authors: Jeffries, AR; Mungall, AJ; Dawson, E; Halls, K; Langford, CF; Murray, RM; Dunham, I; Powell, JF
Abstract
We have mapped and sequenced both chromosome breakpoints of a balanced t(6;11)(q14.2;q25) chromosome translocation that segregates with a schizophrenia-like psychosis. Bioinformatics analysis of the regions revealed a number of confirmed and predicted transcripts. No confirmed transcripts are disrupted by either breakpoint. The chromosome 6 breakpoint region is gene poor, the closest transcript being the serotonin receptor 1E (HTR1E) at 625 kb telomeric to the breakpoint. The chromosome 11 breakpoint is situated close to the telomere. The closest gene, beta-1,3-glucuronyltransferase (B3GAT1 or GlcAT-P), is 299kb centromeric to the breakpoint. B3GAT1 is the key enzyme during the biosynthesis of the carbohydrate epitope HNK-1, which is present on a number of cell adhesion molecules important in neurodevelopment. Mice deleted for the B3GAT1 gene show defects in hippocampal long-term potentiation and in spatial memory formation. We propose that the translocation causes a positional effect on B3GAT1, affecting expression levels and making it a plausible candidate for the psychosis found in this family. More generally, regions close to telomeres are highly polymorphic in both sequence and length in the general population and several studies have implicated subtelomeric deletions as a common cause of idiopathic mental retardation. This leads us to the hypothesis that polymorphic or other variation of the 11q telomere may affect the activity of B3GAT1 and be a risk factor for schizophrenia and related psychoses in the general population.