1. Chromosomes and Gene Expression
  2. Developmental Biology

Single-cell profiling of lncRNAs in human germ cells and molecular analysis reveals transcriptional regulation of LNC1845 on LHX8

  1. Nan Wang
  2. Jing He
  3. Xiaoyu Feng
  4. Shengyou Liao
  5. Yi Zhao
  6. Fuchou Tang
  7. Kehkooi Kee  Is a corresponding author
  1. Tsinghua University, China
  2. Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
  3. Peking University, China
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.78421
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Cite this article
  1. Nan Wang
  2. Jing He
  3. Xiaoyu Feng
  4. Shengyou Liao
  5. Yi Zhao
  6. Fuchou Tang
  7. Kehkooi Kee
(2023)
Single-cell profiling of lncRNAs in human germ cells and molecular analysis reveals transcriptional regulation of LNC1845 on LHX8
eLife 12:e78421.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.78421
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Abstract

Non-coding RNAs exert diverse functions in many cell types. In addition to transcription factors from coding genes, non-coding RNAs may also play essential roles in shaping and directing the fate of germ cells. The presence of many long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) which are specifically expressed in the germ cells during human gonadal development were reportedand one divergent lncRNA, LNC1845, was functionally characterized. Comprehensive bioinformatic analysis of these lncRNAs indicates that divergent lncRNAs occupied the majority of female and male germ cells. Integrating lncRNA expression into the bioinformatic analysis also enhances the cell-type classification of female germ cells. Functional dissection using in vitro differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to germ cells revealed the regulatory role of LNC1845 on a transcription factor essential for ovarian follicle development, LHX8, by modulating the levels of histone modifications, H3K4me3 and H3K27Ac. Hence, bioinformatical analysis and experimental verification provide a comprehensive analysis of lncRNAs in developing germ cells and elucidate how a lncRNA function as a cis regulator during human germ cell development.

Data availability

Raw single cell RNA-seq data are available in GEO with accession GSE86146

The following previously published data sets were used

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Nan Wang

    Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  2. Jing He

    Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  3. Xiaoyu Feng

    Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  4. Shengyou Liao

    Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  5. Yi Zhao

    Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  6. Fuchou Tang

    Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University, Beijing, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

  7. Kehkooi Kee

    Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
    For correspondence
    kkee@tsinghua.edu.cn
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-6926-7203

Funding

Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (2021YFA0719301)

  • Kehkooi Kee

National Natural Science Foundation of China (82071597)

  • Kehkooi Kee

Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (2018YFA0107703)

  • Kehkooi Kee

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

© 2023, Wang et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Nan Wang
  2. Jing He
  3. Xiaoyu Feng
  4. Shengyou Liao
  5. Yi Zhao
  6. Fuchou Tang
  7. Kehkooi Kee
(2023)
Single-cell profiling of lncRNAs in human germ cells and molecular analysis reveals transcriptional regulation of LNC1845 on LHX8
eLife 12:e78421.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.78421

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.78421

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