河南农业大学李转见等研究人员合作在单细胞水平上揭示对鸡卵巢左右非对称发育的深入了解。这一研究成果于2024年8月13日在线发表在国际学术期刊《遗传学报》上。

研究人员利用单细胞转录组测序分析了来自小鸡左右卵巢的超过135000个细胞，覆盖六个不同的胚胎发育阶段。研究人员描绘了这些胚胎卵巢中15种细胞类型的基因表达模式，揭示了左右侧的发育差异。左侧卵巢展示了皮质细胞、合子期生殖细胞及特有的转录变化。

差异基因表达分析进一步识别出在这些细胞类型中活跃的特定标志物和通路，突出了卵巢发育的非对称性。对生殖细胞减数分裂转录组的细致分析揭示了七个不同的簇，这些簇具有特定于不同减数分裂阶段的基因表达模式。

研究人员还鉴定了信号通路和细胞间通信，特别是在前颗粒细胞和生殖细胞之间。空间转录组分析显示了非对称性，展示了仅在左侧卵巢中存在的皮质细胞，通过假定的分泌信号分子调节邻近细胞类型。

总体而言，这项单细胞分析为理解禽类卵巢非对称发育的分子机制提供了深入见解，特别是皮质细胞在左侧卵巢中的重要作用。

据悉，除了猛禽外，禽类卵巢在发育过程中表现出非对称性，仅左侧卵巢发育成功能性器官。

附：英文原文

Title: Insights into left-right asymmetric development of chicken ovary at the single-cell level

Author: Diyan Li a, Zhuanjian Li e

Issue&Volume: 2024/08/13

Abstract: Avian ovaries develop asymmetrically apart from prey birds, with only the left ovary growing more towards functional organs. Here, we analyze over 135,000 cells from chick’s left and right ovaries at six distinct embryonic developmental stages utilizing single-cell transcriptome sequencing. We delineate gene expression patterns across 15 cell types within these embryo ovaries, revealing side-specific development. The left ovaries exhibit cortex cells, zygotene germ cells, and transcriptional changes unique to the left side. Differential gene expression analysis further identifies specific markers and pathways active in these cell types, highlighting the asymmetry in ovarian development. A fine-scale analysis of the germ cell meiotic transcriptome reveals seven distinct clusters with gene expression patterns specific to various meiotic stages. The study also identifies signaling pathways and intercellular communications, particularly between pre-granulosa and germ cells. Spatial transcriptome analysis shows the asymmetry, demonstrating cortex cells exclusively in the left ovary, modulating neighboring cell types through putative secreted signaling molecules. Overall, this single-cell analysis provides insights into the molecular mechanisms of the asymmetric development of avian ovaries, particularly the significant role of cortex cells in the left ovary.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2024.08.002

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1673852724002108