An atlas of cell types in the mammalian epididymis and vas deferens
- University of Massachusetts Medical School, United States
- University of California Santa Cruz, United States
Abstract
Following testicular spermatogenesis, mammalian sperm continue to mature in a long epithelial tube known as the epididymis, which plays key roles in remodeling sperm protein, lipid, and RNA composition. To understand the roles for the epididymis in reproductive biology, we generated a single cell atlas of the murine epididymis and vas deferens. We recovered key epithelial cell types including principal cells, clear cells, and basal cells, along with associated support cells that include fibroblasts, smooth muscle, macrophages and other immune cells. Moreover, our data illuminate extensive regional specialization of principal cell populations across the length of the epididymis. In addition to region-specific specialization of principal cells, we find evidence for functionally specialized subpopulations of stromal cells, and, most notably, two distinct populations of clear cells. Our dataset extends on existing knowledge of epididymal biology, and provides a wealth of information on potential regulatory and signaling factors that bear future investigation.
Data availability
Data are available at GEO, Accession #GSE145443.
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An atlas of cell types in the mammalian epididymis and vas deferens [single-cell RNA-Seq]NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus, GSE145443.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD080224)
- Vera D Rinaldi
- Elisa Donnard
- Kyle Gellatly
- Morten Rasmussen
- Alper Kucukural
- Onur Yukselen
- Manuel Garber
- Oliver J Rando
NIH Office of the Director (1DP2AG066622)
- Upasna Sharma
John Templeton Foundation (61350)
- Vera D Rinaldi
- Oliver J Rando
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: All animal care and use procedures were in accordance with guidelines of the University of Massachusetts Medical School Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (Protocol # A-1833-18).
Copyright
© 2020, Rinaldi et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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An atlas of cell types in the mammalian epididymis and vas deferens
eLife 9:e55474.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.55474
Further reading
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- Developmental Biology
The articles in this special issue highlight the diversity and complexity of research into reproductive health, including the need for a better understanding of the fundamental biology of reproduction and for new treatments for a range of reproductive disorders.
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- Developmental Biology
During the trunk to tail transition the mammalian embryo builds the outlets for the intestinal and urogenital tracts, lays down the primordia for the hindlimb and external genitalia, and switches from the epiblast/primitive streak (PS) to the tail bud as the driver of axial extension. Genetic and molecular data indicate that Tgfbr1 is a key regulator of the trunk to tail transition. Tgfbr1 has been shown to control the switch of the neuromesodermal competent cells from the epiblast to the chordoneural hinge to generate the tail bud. We now show that in mouse embryos Tgfbr1 signaling also controls the remodeling of the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) and of the embryonic endoderm associated with the trunk to tail transition. In the absence of Tgfbr1, the two LPM layers do not converge at the end of the trunk, extending instead as separate layers until the caudal embryonic extremity, and failing to activate markers of primordia for the hindlimb and external genitalia. The vascular remodeling involving the dorsal aorta and the umbilical artery leading to the connection between embryonic and extraembryonic circulation was also affected in the Tgfbr1 mutant embryos. Similar alterations in the LPM and vascular system were also observed in Isl1 null mutants, indicating that this factor acts in the regulatory cascade downstream of Tgfbr1 in LPM-derived tissues. In addition, in the absence of Tgfbr1 the embryonic endoderm fails to expand to form the endodermal cloaca and to extend posteriorly to generate the tail gut. We present evidence suggesting that the remodeling activity of Tgfbr1 in the LPM and endoderm results from the control of the posterior PS fate after its regression during the trunk to tail transition. Our data, together with previously reported observations, place Tgfbr1 at the top of the regulatory processes controlling the trunk to tail transition.
