Spermatogonia-dependent expression of testicular genes in mice

Spermatogenesis is initiated by the interaction of germ cells and somatic cells in seminiferous tubules. We used cDNA microarrays and representational difference analysis to identify genes that are expressed in the testis of the jsd/jsd mutant mouse, which contains only type A spermatogonial germ cells and Sertoli cells, but not in the testis of the W/W(v) mutant mouse, where Sertoli cells but few germ cells are present. We isolated 20 known genes and 4 novel genes, including 2 genes encoding lipocalin family members (prostaglandin D synthetase and 24p3) and 2 tumor suppressors (protein tyrosine phosphatase TD14 and Sui1). All 24 of these jsd/jsd-derived genes were highly expressed in the cryptorchid testis as well as in the jsd/jsd testis. This indicates that their selective expression is not directly caused by the as-yet-uncharacterized jsd gene product, but is rather correlated to the cessation of spermatogonial differentiation. In situ hybridization analysis and flow cytometric sorting followed by reverse transcriptase-PCR revealed that these genes are expressed in both the spermatogonial germ cells and the somatic cells in the developing gonads and adult testes. As the mRNAs of these jsd/jsd-derived genes were barely detectable in the W/W(v) testis, we propose that early spermatogonial germ cells regulate the expression of a group of testicular genes.