FZD7, Regulated by Non-CpG Methylation, Plays an Important Role in Immature Porcine Sertoli Cell Proliferation

The regulatory role of non-CpG methylation in mammals has been important in whole-genome bisulfite sequencing. It has also been suggested that non-CpG methylation regulates gene expression to affect the development and health of mammals. However, the dynamic regulatory mechanisms of genome-wide, non-CpG methylation during testicular development still require intensive study. In this study, we analyzed the dataset from the whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) and the RNA-seq of precocious porcine testicular tissues across two developmental stages (1 and 75 days old) in order to explore the regulatory roles of non-CpG methylation. Our results showed that genes regulated by non-CpG methylation affect the development of testes in multiple pathways. Furthermore, several hub genes that are regulated by non-CpG methylation during testicular development—such asVEGFA,PECAM1, andFZD7—were also identified. We also found that the relative expression ofFZD7was downregulated by the zebularine-induced demethylation of the first exon ofFZD7. This regulatory relationship was consistent with the results of the WGBS and RNA-seq analysis. The immature porcine Sertoli cells were transfected with RNAi to mimic the expression patterns ofFZD7during testicular development. The results of the simulation test showed that cell proliferation was significantly impeded and that cell cycle arrest at the G2 phase was caused by the siRNA-inducedFZD7inhibition. We also found that the percentage of early apoptotic Sertoli cells was decreased by transfecting them with the RNAi forFZD7. This indicates thatFZD7is an important factor in linking the proliferation and apoptosis of Sertoli cells. We further demonstrated that Sertoli cells that were treated with the medium collected from apoptotic cells could stimulate proliferation. These findings will contribute to the exploration of the regulatory mechanisms of non-CpG methylation in testicular development and of the relationship between the proliferation and apoptosis of normal somatic cells.Keywords:FZD7;non-CpG methylation;Sertoli cells;testes;proliferation;apoptosis

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