Biology subjects

Rando, O.

Publications and source records attributed to Rando, O..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

Small RNAs gained during epididymal transit of sperm are essential for embryonic development in mice

The small RNA payload of mammalian sperm undergoes dramatic remodeling during development, as several waves of microRNAs and tRNA fragments are shipped to sperm during post-testicular maturation in the epididymis. Here, we take advantage of this developmental process to probe the function of the sperm RNA payload in preimplantation development. We generated zygotes via intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) using sperm obtained from the proximal (caput) vs. distal (cauda) epididymis, then characterized development of the resulting embryos. Embryos generated using caput sperm significantly overexpress multiple regulatory factors throughout preimplantation development, and subsequently implant inefficiently and fail soon after implantation. Remarkably, microinjection of purified cauda-specific small RNAs into caput-derived embryos not only completely rescued preimplantation molecular defects, but also suppressed the postimplantation embryonic lethality phenotype. These findings reveal an essential role for small RNA remodeling during post-testicular maturation of mammalian sperm, and identify a specific preimplantation gene expression program responsive to sperm-delivered microRNAs.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Small RNAs are trafficked from the epididymis to developing mammalian sperm

RNAs present in mature mammalian sperm are delivered to the zygote at fertilization, where they have the potential to affect early development. The biogenesis of the small RNA payload of mature sperm is therefore of great interest, as it may be a target of signaling pathways linking paternal conditions to offspring phenotype. Recent studies have suggested the surprising hypothesis that the small RNA payload carried by mature sperm may include RNAs that were not synthesized during testicular spermatogenesis, but that are instead delivered to sperm during the process of post-testicular maturation in the epididymis. To further test this hypothesis, we characterized small RNA dynamics during testicular and post-testicular germ cell maturation in mice. We show that purified testicular germ cell populations, including mature testicular spermatozoa, carry extremely low levels of tRNA fragments (tRFs), and that tRFs become highly abundant only after sperm have entered the epididiymis. The process of small RNA delivery to sperm can be recapitulated in vitro, as caput epididymosomes deliver small RNAs including tRFs and microRNAs to mature testicular spermatozoa. Finally, to definitively identify the tissue of origin for small RNAs in sperm, we carried out tissue-specific metabolic labeling of RNAs in intact mice, finding that mature sperm carry small RNAs that were originally synthesized in the somatic cells of the epididymis. Taken together, our data demonstrates that soma-germline small RNA transfer occurs in male mammals, most likely via vesicular transport from the epididymis to maturing sperm.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2017

Transcriptome-wide analysis of roles for tRNA modifications in translational regulation

Covalent nucleotide modifications in noncoding RNAs such as tRNAs affect a plethora of biological processes, with new functions continuing to be discovered for even well-known tRNA modifications. To systematically compare the functions of a large set of ncRNA modifications in gene regulation, we carried out ribosome profiling and RNA-Seq in budding yeast for 57 nonessential genes involved in tRNA modification. Deletion mutants exhibited a range of translational phenotypes, with modifying enzymes known to modify anticodons, or non-tRNA substrates such as rRNA, exhibiting the most dramatic translational perturbations. Our data build on prior reports documenting translational upregulation of the nutrient-responsive transcription factor Gcn4 in response to numerous tRNA perturbations, and identify many additional translationally-regulated mRNAs throughout the yeast genome. Our data also uncover novel roles for tRNA modifying enzymes in transcriptional regulation of TY retroelements, and in rRNA 2-O-methylation. This dataset should provide a rich resource for discovery of additional links between tRNA modifications and gene regulation.

molecular biology↗