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- Title
A spatiotemporal steroidogenic regulatory network in human fetal adrenal glands and gonads.
- Authors
Yifu Wang; Bingqian Guo; Yajie Guo; Nana Qi; Yufang Lv; Yu Ye; Yan Huang; Xinyang Long; Hongfei Chen; Cheng Su; Liying Zhang; Qingyun Zhang; Minxi Li; Jinling Liao; Yunkun Yan; Xingning Mao; Yanyu Zeng; Jinghang Jiang; Zhongyuan Chen; Yi Guo
- Abstract
Human fetal adrenal glands produce substantial amounts of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which is one of the most important precursors of sex hormones. However, the underlying biological mechanism remains largely unknown. Herein, we sequenced human fetal adrenal glands and gonads from 7 to 14 gestational weeks (GW) via 10× Genomics single-cell transcriptome techniques, reconstructed their location information by spatial transcriptomics. Relative to gonads, adrenal glands begin to synthesize steroids early. The coordination among steroidogenic cells and multiple non-steroidogenic cells promotes adrenal cortex construction and steroid synthesis. Notably, during the window of sexual differentiation (8-12 GW), key enzyme gene expression shifts to accelerate DHEA synthesis in males and cortisol synthesis in females. Our research highlights the robustness of the action of fetal adrenal glands on gonads to modify the process of sexual differentiation.
- Subjects
ADRENAL glands; GONADS; ADRENAL cortex; SEX differentiation (Embryology); STEROID synthesis
- Publication
Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2022, Vol 13, p1
- ISSN
1664-2392
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3389/fendo.2022.1036517