CAJ | 학술논문

Objective To explore specific gene expression for regulating meiosis of germ cells during spermatogenesis of rat testis Materials & Methods Male SD rats, aged 1, 3 and 8 weeks, were observed in this study. The methods of morphological observation on testicular tissues embedded by resin and mRNA differential display (DDRT-PCR) were combined to obtain specific mRNA expression gene fragments during the testicular development. Reverse dot blot hybridization was operated to further screen the positive differential DNA fragments.The positive DNA segments were sub-cloned in pGEM-T-Easy vector and transformed into the competent E-coli 109 straint. Northern blot analysis and in situ hybridization were also carried out for identifying tissue-specific expression as well as cell-specific expression DNA fragments. To screen λ-ZAP-II rat testicular gene library was searched for the original gene.Results Eighty two differential cDNA fragments were obtained through primary DDRT-PCR, among which 40 differential cDNA fragments were selected for further screening with reverse dot blot hybridization. After the reverse dot blot hybridization,12 primary differential DNA fragments were obtained. The size of DNA fragments ranged from 250 to 500 bp. The in situ hybridization of the testicular tissue showed that a specific DNA fragment derived from 8-week old rat testis, named CG14, was hybridized in adult rat testicular section, in which the positive nucleic acid signals were distributed specifically in the primary spermatocytes. Another DNA fragment derived from 1-week old rat testis, named AA 1 1, was hybridized specifically in Sertoli cell of 1-week old rat testis. Northern blot hybridization with [α-32P] dCTP labeled CG 1 4 probe, including cardiac, liver, kidney, brain, testis, and epididymis tissue mRNAs of rat, showed that an mRNA specific hybridization band, size of 1. 258 kb, was found in testis tissue and size of 1. 531 kb of another hybridization band present in epididymis tissue. The CG14 DNA specific gene fragment existed in the λ ZAP-II testis gene library.Conclusion 1. The DDRT-PCR technique is a convenient tool to find the specific expression gene during spermatogenesis. 2. The CG14 DNA fragment was expressed significantly in rat testicular tissue, weakly expressed in the epididymis tissue of rat,but not found in cardiac, liver, kidney, and brain tissues. 3. The CG14 DNA frag ment was specifically expressed in the primary spermatocytes and might be associated with the meiosis of the primary spermatocyte during spermatogenesis of rat. 4. The CG 1 4 DNA fragment existed in the λ ZAP-II testis gene library.