Linking Phospho-Gonadotropin Regulated Testicular RNA Helicase (GRTH/DDX25) to Histone Ubiquitination and Acetylation Essential for Spermatid Development During Spermiogenesis

In this study, we examined genome-wide transcriptome profiles of germ cells isolated from GRTH Knock-In and WT mice testis using RNA-Seq. We used homozygous KI mice with R242H mutation in GRTH gene resulting loss of phospho-GRTH to further understand its role in spermatid development during spermiogenesis by analyzing the DEGs from RNA-Seq. The analysis of RNA-Seq data allowed us to find the relevant DEGs related to ubiquitination pathway that are essential for spermatid development. This study using KI mice model demonstrated that loss of phospho-GRTH impairs UBE2J1 and RNF8 dependent histone modifications hampering initial stages of spermatid elongation process. Transcriptome profiles of germ cells isolated from 5 WT and 5 GRTH-Knock-In mice were obtained using Illumina RNA-Seq for differential gene expression analysis.