DIS3 ribonuclease is required for the maintenance of spermatogenic lineage in mice

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) self-renewal and differentiation are the foundation for continious spermatognenesis in mice. Here, we investigate the essential role of DIS3 in maintaining SSC homeostasis and facilitating germ cell differentiation to ensure male fertility. Conditional inactivation of DIS3 in male germ cells have severely impaired SSC self-renewal and differentiation, which results in the failure of spermatogenesis associated with a Sertoli cell-only syndrome and adult sterility. RNA-seq analysis reveales that Dis3 deficiency abolishes its nucleolytic activity and causes significant dysregulation of the expression of transcripts in Dis3 mutant testes. We have also found that the pervasive transcription products described previously, such as Promoter Upstream Transcripts (PROMPTs), accumulate robustly upon DIS3 dysfunction in Dis3 cKO testes. In addition, scRNA-seq analysis indicates that DIS3 mutation significantly impairs germline stem cell development that blocks stem cell proliferation and differentiation. Overall, we show that DIS3 ribonuclease plays a critical role in the maintenance of spermatogenic lineage during spermatogenesis in mice.