Epigenetic profiling of young and aged spermatogonial stem cells (ChIP-Seq)

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSC), the foundation of spermatogenesis and male fertility, possess lifelong self-renewal activity. Aging leads to the decline in stem cell function and increased risk of paternal age-related genetic diseases. Epigenetic profiling revealed reduced H3K27me3 deposition at numerous pro-differentiation genes during SSC differentiation as well as aberrant H3K27me3 distribution at genes in Wnt and TGF-β signaling upon aging. We separated stem cells (Oct4-GFP+/KIT-) and their immediate proliferating daughter cells (Oct4-GFP+/KIT+) using FACS from adult (6-8 months) and aged mice (15-18 months), which were subjected to ChIP-Seq analysis of H3k4me3 and H3k27me3 modification.