ZEBRAFISH (Danio rerio) SPERMATOGONIAL CELL TRANSCRIPTOME UNDER INFLUENCE OF THE FOLLICLE-STIMULATING HORMONE (FSH)

• Grant number: 17/08274-3
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Effective date (Start): July 22, 2017
• Effective date (End): December 15, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Fishery Resources and Fishery Engineering - Inland Water Fishery Resources
• Principal researcher: Rafael Henrique Nóbrega
• Grantee: Lucas Benites Doretto
• Supervisor abroad: Adelino Vicente Mendonca Canario
• Home Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Universidade do Algarve (UAlg), Portugal
• Associated to the scholarship: 16/12101-4 - Selection, Culture and Transcriptome of spermatogonial stem cells of zebrafish, Danio rerio: a functional and genomics approach, BP.MS

Abstract

Spermatogonia stem cells are cells with unique characteristics in animals organisms. These cells are located in a specific region of the testis known as spermatogonial niche. Growth factors produced in such enviroment regulate the development of spermatogonia, inducingeither self-renewal or differentiation. The proper balance between such processes ensures the reproduction of the individual. Recent papers has shown that Fsh (follicle-stimulating hormone) is an important hormone that acts on this balance (Self-renewal and differentiation/proliferation). Fsh acts on the Sertoli cells and Leydig cells, both elements of the spermatogonial niche. By the Sertoli cells, Fsh stimulates the release of Igf3 (insulin-like growth factor 3) thatpromotes proliferation and spermatogonial differentiation towards meiosis. In this sense, Fsh also decreases the expression of Amh (anti-Mullerian hormone) produced also by Sertoli cells. Amh is known to block spermatogonial differentiation, keeping the spermatogonia in its quiescent state. Furthermore, Fsh alsostimulates the release of androgens through Leydig cells, inducing the differentiation of the spermatogonia. However, the genetic modifications that occur in these cells (spermatogonial gene regulation) in the presence of Fsh are still unknown, for example, Do these cells lose their pluripotency? Is regulation mediated by microRNAs? Therefore, the present project aims to study the gene behavior of populations of spermatogonia stem cells under the influence of Fsh through their isolation in order to determine the possible candidates (mRNAs or microRNAs) that may be involved in this complex regulatory pool gene present in the cells Of the male germ line.