Expression of the Ubiquitin Proteasome System in Neonatal Rat Gonocytes and Spermatogonia: Role in Gonocyte Differentiation

The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) consists of a cascade of enzymatic reactions leading to the ubiquitination of proteins, with consequent degradation or altered functions of the proteins. Alterations in UPS genes have been associated with male infertility, suggesting the role of UPS in spermatogenesis. In the present study, we questioned whether UPS is involved in extensive remodeling and functional changes occurring during the differentiation of neonatal testicular gonocytes to spermatogonia, a step critical for the establishment of the spermatogonial stem cell population. We found that addition of the proteasome inhibitor lactacystin to isolated gonocytes inhibited their retinoic acid-induced differentiation in a dose-dependent manner, blocking the induction of the spermatogonial gene markers Stra8 and Dazl. We then compared the UPS gene expression profiles of Postnatal Day (PND) 3 gonocytes and PND8 spermatogonia, using gene expression arrays and quantitative real-time PCR analyses. We identified 205 UPS genes, including 91 genes expressed at relatively high levels. From those, 28 genes were differentially expressed between gonocytes and spermatogonia. While ubiquitin-activating enzymes and ligases showed higher expression in gonocytes, most ubiquitin conjugating and deubiquitinating enzymes were expressed at higher levels in spermatogonia. Concomitant with the induction of spermatogonial gene markers, retinoic acid altered the expression of many UPS genes, suggesting that the UPS is remodeled during gonocyte differentiation. In conclusion, these studies identified novel ubiquitin-related genes in gonocytes and spermatogonia and revealed that proteasome function is involved in gonocyte differentiation. Considering the multiple roles of the UPS, it will be important to determine which UPS genes direct substrates to the proteasome and which are involved in proteasome-independent functions in gonocytes and to identify their target proteins.