Liu, DonglinBrockman, J. MichaelDass, BrindaHutchins, Lucie N.Singh, PriyamMcCarrey, John R.MacDonald, Clinton C.Graber, Joel H.2012-01-112012-01-112006-12-08Liu, Donglin, J. Michael Brockman, Brinda Dass, Lucie N. Hutchins, Priyam Singh, John R. McCarrey, Clinton C. MacDonald, Joel H. Graber. "Systematic variation in mRNA 3′-processing signals during mouse spermatogenesis" Nucleic Acids Research 35(1): 234-246. (2006)1362-4962https://hdl.handle.net/2144/3205Gene expression and processing during mouse male germ cell maturation (spermatogenesis) is highly specialized. Previous reports have suggested that there is a high incidence of alternative 3′-processing in male germ cell mRNAs, including reduced usage of the canonical polyadenylation signal, AAUAAA. We used EST libraries generated from mouse testicular cells to identify 3′-processing sites used at various stages of spermatogenesis (spermatogonia, spermatocytes and round spermatids) and testicular somatic Sertoli cells. We assessed differences in 3′-processing characteristics in the testicular samples, compared to control sets of widely used 3′-processing sites. Using a new method for comparison of degenerate regulatory elements between sequence samples, we identified significant changes in the use of putative 3′-processing regulatory sequence elements in all spermatogenic cell types. In addition, we observed a trend towards truncated 3′-untranslated regions (3′-UTRs), with the most significant differences apparent in round spermatids. In contrast, Sertoli cells displayed a much smaller trend towards 3′-UTR truncation and no significant difference in 3′-processing regulatory sequences. Finally, we identified a number of genes encoding mRNAs that were specifically subject to alternative 3′-processing during meiosis and postmeiotic development. Our results highlight developmental differences in polyadenylation site choice and in the elements that likely control them during spermatogenesis.enArticle10.1093/nar/gkl919171585111802579