Master
English

Understanding biogenesis and function of mRNA-derived PIWI-interacting RNAs in the male mouse germline

DirectorsWu, Pei-Hsuan
Number of pages45
Master program titleMaster en biologie
Handover date2025-08-28
Abstract

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs (small RNAs) specific to the animal germline. In mice, they play a crucial role in male fertility, spermatogenesis, and sperm function. Three classes of mouse piRNAs are expressed at different developmental stages in postnatal testes: pre-pachytene, pachytene, and hybrid piRNAs. Pre-pachytene and pachytene piRNAs were named for the onset of their expression before and at meiosis in spermatogenesis, respectively. By contrast, mouse hybrid piRNAs come from 30 genomic loci and share developmental expression features of both pachytene and pre-pachytene piRNAs— beginning at 10.5 dpp and continuing thereafter. Notably, 25 of these 30 hybrid piRNA-producing loci produce piRNAs from the 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR) of mRNAs. While the role of pachytene piRNAs in male fertility is well established, little is known about the biogenesis and function of hybrid piRNAs. We aim to understand these bifunctional piRNA-producing mRNAs by studying the dynamics of 3′UTR length and its correlation with transcript abundance and piRNA production efficiency. In this study, we showed that all reported Asb1 and Kctd7 mRNA 3′UTR isoforms are expressed in both mouse liver and testes, with a striking testis-specific enrichment and developmental regulation during spermatogenesis. We further demonstrated that these 3′UTR isoforms give rise to testis-specific and also developmentally regulated piRNAs (pi-Asb1 and pi-Kctd7), which are partially loaded into PIWI proteins. At the protein level, ASB1 is consistently expressed during spermatogenesis and localizes to the cytoplasm of spermatocytes and early spermatids, highlighting a potential role in germ cell differentiation. Together, our results suggest that ASB1 plays a role in spermatocyte differentiation, while KCTD7 may be regulated via piRNA-mediated mechanisms. Our work highlights the testis as a unique system where 3′UTR isoform dynamics, piRNA biogenesis, and protein expression intersect to regulate germ cell development.

Keywords
  • PiRNAs
  • Male fertility
  • Spermatogenesis
  • 3′ untranslated region
  • ASB1
  • KCTD7
Citation (ISO format)
DARQUES, Marcelle Vanora. Understanding biogenesis and function of mRNA-derived PIWI-interacting RNAs in the male mouse germline. Master, 2025.
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Master thesis
accessLevelRestricted
Identifiers
  • PID : unige:188331
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Creation05/09/2025 08:39:29
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