The testes are the organs of gamete production and testosterone synthesis. Up to date, no model system is available for mammalian testicular development, and only few studies have characterized the mouse testis transcriptome from no more than three postnatal ages. To describe the transcriptome landscape of the developing mouse testis and identify the potential molecular mechanisms underlying testis maturation, we examined multiple RNA-seq data of mouse testes from 3-week-old (puberty) to 11-week-old (adult). Sperm cells appeared as expected in 5-week-old mouse testis, suggesting the proper sample collection. The principal components analysis revealed the genes from 3w to 4w clustered away from other timepoints, indicating they may be the important nodes for testicular development. The pairwise comparisons at two adjacent timepoints identified 7,612 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), resulting in 58 unique mRNA expression patterns. Enrichment analysis identified functions in tissue morphogenesis (3-4w), regulation of peptidase activity (4-5w), spermatogenesis (7-8w), and antigen processing (10-11w), suggesting distinct functions in different developmental periods. 50 hub genes and 10 gene cluster modules were identified in the testis maturation process by protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, and the miRNA-lncRNA-mRNA, miRNA-circRNA-mRNA and miRNA-circRNA-lncRNA-mRNA competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks were constructed. The results suggest that testis maturation is a complex developmental process modulated by various molecules, and that some potential RNA-RNA interactions may be involved in specific developmental stages. In summary, this study provides an update on the molecular basis of testis development, which may help to understand the molecular mechanisms of mouse testis development and provide guidance for mouse reproduction.

中文翻译：

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多重转录组分析揭示小鼠睾丸发育动态

睾丸是配子产生和睾酮合成的器官。迄今为止，还没有可用于哺乳动物睾丸发育的模型系统，并且只有少数研究对出生后不超过三个年龄的小鼠睾丸转录组进行了表征。为了描述发育中的小鼠睾丸的转录组图谱并确定睾丸成熟的潜在分子机制，我们检查了从 3 周龄（青春期）到 11 周龄（成年）小鼠睾丸的多个 RNA-seq 数据。精子细胞如预期出现在 5 周大的小鼠睾丸中，表明样本采集正确。主成分分析显示，3周至4周的基因远离其他时间点，表明它们可能是睾丸发育的重要节点。两个相邻时间点的成对比较鉴定出 7,612 个差异表达基因 (DEG)，从而产生 58 个独特的 mRNA 表达模式。富集分析确定了组织形态发生（3-4周）、肽酶活性调节（4-5周）、精子发生（7-8周）和抗原加工（10-11周）中的功能，表明不同发育时期的不同功能。通过蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用（PPI）网络分析，鉴定出睾丸成熟过程中的50个枢纽基因和10个基因簇模块，并且miRNA-lncRNA-mRNA、miRNA-circRNA-mRNA和miRNA-circRNA-lncRNA-mRNA竞争内源RNA (ceRNA) 网络已构建。结果表明，睾丸成熟是一个由多种分子调节的复杂发育过程，并且某些潜在的RNA-RNA相互作用可能涉及特定的发育阶段。综上所述，本研究提供了睾丸发育分子基础的更新，可能有助于了解小鼠睾丸发育的分子机制，并为小鼠生殖提供指导。