PUBLICATION
miR-34a Regulates Sperm Motility in Zebrafish
- Authors
- Guo, W., Xie, B., Xiong, S., Liang, X., Gui, J.F., Mei, J.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-171214-1
- Date
- 2017
- Source
- International Journal of Molecular Sciences 18(12): (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Gui, Jian-Fang, Mei, Jie
- Keywords
- gsk3a, knockout, miR-34a, sperm motility
- MeSH Terms
-
- Female
- MicroRNAs/genetics*
- Animals
- Sexual Behavior, Animal
- Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3/genetics*
- Zebrafish/genetics*
- Zebrafish/physiology
- Sperm Motility
- Gene Knockout Techniques
- Male
- Spermatogenesis
- Spermatozoa/physiology*
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
- 3' Untranslated Regions
- Fertilization
- PubMed
- 29232857 Full text @ Int. J. Mol. Sci.
Citation
Guo, W., Xie, B., Xiong, S., Liang, X., Gui, J.F., Mei, J. (2017) miR-34a Regulates Sperm Motility in Zebrafish. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 18(12).
Abstract
Increasing attention has been focused on the role of microRNAs in post-transcription regulation during spermatogenesis. Recently, the miR-34 family has been shown to be involved in the spermatogenesis, but the clear function of the miR-34 family in spermatogenesis is still obscure. Here we analyzed the function of miR-34a, a member of the miR-34 family, during spermatogenesis using miR-34a knockout zebrafish generated by the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system. miR-34a knockout zebrafish showed no obvious defects on testis morphology and sperm quantity. However, we found a significant increase in progressive sperm motility that is one of the pivotal factors influencing in vitro fertilization rates, in the knockout zebrafish. Moreover, breeding experiments showed that, when miR-34a-knockout male zebrafish mated with the wide-type females, they had a higher fertilization rate than did the wide-type males. Glycogen synthase kinase-3a (gsk3a), a potential sperm motility regulatory gene was predicted to be targeted by miR-34a, which was further supported by luciferase reporter assays, since a significant decrease of luciferase activity was detected upon ectopic overexpression of miR-34a. Our findings suggest that miR-34a downregulates gsk3a by targeting its 3' untranslated region, and miR-34a/gsk3a interaction modulates sperm motility in zebrafish. This study will help in understanding in the role of the miR-34 family during spermatogenesis and will set paths for further studies.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping