ArticleeLife2025
scRNA-seq and scATAC-seq reveal that Sertoli cell mediates spermatogenesis disorders through stage-specific communications in non-obstructive azoospermia.
Article in eLife, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Epigenetic dynamics of human spermatogenesis and their dysregulation in non-obstructive azoospermia.Protein & cell · 2026Article
- DUET-seq: An Open-Source Droplet Platform for High-Fidelity Joint Chromatin and Transcriptome Profiling Reveals Temporal Regulatory Decoupling in Single Cells.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Identification of biomarkers related to amino acid metabolism in nonobstructive azoospermia by bioinformatics.Medicine · 2026Article
- Single-nucleus RNA sequencing provides insights into the genetic mechanisms underlying reproductive adaptability in Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries).Communications biology · 2026Article
- Integrated bioinformatics analysis identifies an immune-related gene signature associated with non-obstructive azoospermia.PloS one · 2026Article
- Quantitative Postnatal Maturation of the Feline Testis from 6 to 36 Months: A Stereological and DHH Immunomorphological Analysis.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Article
- Exploring candidate biomarkers for nonobstructive azoospermia: A bioinformatics and machine learning approach.Science progressArticle
- Advances in the diagnosis and treatment of oligoasthenozoospermia based on epigenetic regulation.Therapeutic advances in urologyReview
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6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) belongs to male infertility due to spermatogenesis failure. However, evidence for cell type-specific abnormalities of spermatogenesis disorders in NOA remains lacking. We performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and single-cell assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing (scATAC-seq) on testicular tissues from patients with obstructive azoospermia (OA) and NOA. HE staining confirmed the structural abnormalities of the seminiferous tubules in NOA patients. We identified 12 germ cell subtypes (spermatogonial stem cell-0 [SSC0], SSC1, SSC2, diffing-spermatogonia [Diffing-SPG], diffed-spermatogonia [Diffed-SPG], pre-leptotene [Pre-Lep], leptotene-zygotene [L-Z], pachytene [Pa], diplotene [Di], spermatids-1 [SPT1], SPT2, and SPT3) and 8 Sertoli cell subtypes (SC1-SC8). Among them, three novel Sertoli cell subtype phenotypes were identified, namely SC4/immature, SC7/mature, and SC8/further mature Sertoli cells. For each germ or Sertoli cell subtype, we identified unique new markers, among which immunofluorescence confirmed co-localization of ST3GAL4, A2M, ASB9, and TEX19 and DDX4 (classical marker of germ cell). PRAP1, BST2, and CCDC62 were co-expressed with SOX9 (classical marker of Sertoli cell) in testes tissues also confirmed by immunofluorescence. The interaction between germ cell subtypes and Sertoli cell subtypes exhibits stage-specific-matching pattern, as evidenced by SC1/2/5/7 involving in SSC0-2 development, SC3 participating in the whole process of spermiogenesis, SC4/6 participating in Diffing and Diffed-SPG development, and SC8 involving in the final stage of SPT3. This pattern of specific interactions between subtypes of germ cell and Sertoli cell was confirmed by immunofluorescence of novel markers in testes tissues. The interaction was mainly regulated by the Notch1/2/3 signaling. Our study profiled the single-cell transcriptome of human spermatogenesis and provided many potential molecular markers for developing testicular puncture-specific marker kits for NOA patients.
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