Single-cell bisulfite-seq analyses of 29-year-old prospermatogonia and adult spermatogonial stem cell

To examine the timing of de novo methylation during human male germ cell development, single-cell bisulfite sequencing was carried out on human germ cells. FACS-purified Prospermatogonia from three teratoma patients (1-year-0-month, 1-year-5-months, and 1-year-8-months) and spermatogonial stem cells from a 29-year-old obstructive azoospermia patient with normal spermatogenesis were analyzed. The three 1-year-old prospermatogonia exhibited average methylation levels of 41.4% (23.1-54.4%, 1-year-0-month), 53.1% (32.0-62.4%, 1-year-5-months), and 32.6% (10.2-54.7%, 1-year-8-months). In contrast, adult spermatogonia showed an average level of 75.7% (73.3-76.8%). Although teratoma may have influenced the developmental timing of prospermatogonia within the same testes, prospermatogonia across all 1-year-old samples remained in an intermediate phase of DNA methylation establishment.

• Type: Other
• Archiver: Japanese Genotype-phenotype Archive (JGA)