Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Oct;57(10):e23330.
doi: 10.1002/dvg.23330. Epub 2019 Aug 6.

Yes-associated protein expression in germ cells is dispensable for spermatogenesis in mice

Nour Abou Nader  1 , Adrien Levasseur  1 , Xiangfan Zhang  2 , Derek Boerboom  1 , Makoto C Nagano  2 , Alexandre Boyer  1
Affiliations

Yes-associated protein expression in germ cells is dispensable for spermatogenesis in mice

Nour Abou Nader et al. Genesis. 2019 Oct.

Erratum in

  • Corrigendum.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] Genesis. 2021 Mar;59(3):e23402. doi: 10.1002/dvg.23402. Epub 2020 Dec 17. Genesis. 2021. PMID: 33332698 No abstract available.

Abstract

Yes-associated protein (YAP), a key effector of the Hippo signaling pathway, is expressed in the nucleus of spermatogonia in mice, suggesting a potential role in spermatogenesis. Here, we report the generation of a conditional knockout mouse model (Yapflox/flox ; Ddx4cre/+ ) that specifically inactivates Yap in the germ cells. The inactivation of Yap in spermatogonia was found to be highly efficient in this model. The loss of Yap in the germ cells had no observable effect on spermatogenesis in vivo. Histological examination of the testes showed no structural differences between mutant animals and age-matched Yapflox/flox controls, nor was any differences detected in gonadosomatic index, expression of germ cell markers or sperm counts. Cluster-forming assay using undifferentiated spermatogonia, including spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs), also showed that YAP is dispensable for SSC cluster formation in vitro. However, an increase in the expression of spermatogenesis and oogenesis basic helix-loop-helix 1 (Sohlh1) and neurogenin 3 (Ngn3) was observed in clusters derived from Yapflox/flox ; Ddx4cre/+ animals. Taken together, these results suggest that YAP fine-tunes the expression of genes associated with spermatogonial fate commitment, but that its loss is not sufficient to alter spermatogenesis in vivo.

Keywords: Yap; spermatogenesis; spermatogonia; transgenic mouse model.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Amoyel, M., Simons, B. D., & Bach, E. A. (2014). Neutral competition of stem cells is skewed by proliferative changes downstream of Hh and Hpo. The EMBO Journal, 33(20), 2295-2313. https://doi.org/10.15252/embj.201387500
    1. Badr, G., Abdel-Tawab, H. S., Ramadan, N. K., Ahmed, S. F., & Mahmoud, M. H. (2018). Protective effects of camel whey protein against scrotal heat-mediated damage and infertility in the mouse testis through YAP/Nrf2 and PPAR-gamma signaling pathways. Molecular Reproduction and Development, 85(6), 505-518. https://doi.org/10.1002/mrd.22987
    1. Ballow, D., Meistrich, M. L., Matzuk, M., & Rajkovic, A. (2006). Sohlh1 is essential for spermatogonial differentiation. Developmental Biology, 294(1), 161-167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2006.02.027
    1. Boyer, A., Girard, M., Thimmanahalli, D. S., Levasseur, A., Celeste, C., Paquet, M., … Boerboom, D. (2016). mTOR regulates gap junction alpha-1 protein trafficking in Sertoli cells and is required for the maintenance of spermatogenesis in mice. Biology of Reproduction, 95(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod.115.138016
    1. Cebola, I., Rodriguez-Segui, S. A., Cho, C. H., Bessa, J., Rovira, M., Luengo, M., … Ferrer, J. (2015). TEAD and YAP regulate the enhancer network of human embryonic pancreatic progenitors. Nature Cell Biology, 17(5), 615-626. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb3160

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources