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  4. Transcriptomic profiling of murine GnRH neurons reveals developmental trajectories linked to human reproduction and infertility
 
research article

Transcriptomic profiling of murine GnRH neurons reveals developmental trajectories linked to human reproduction and infertility

Zouaghi, Yassine
•
Alpern, Daniel  
•
Gardeux, Vincent  
Show more
2025
Theranostics

Rationale: Neurons producing Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH) are essential for human reproduction and have to migrate from nose to brain during prenatal life. Impaired GnRH neuron biology results in alterations of the reproductive axis, including delayed puberty and infertility, with considerable effects on quality of life and metabolic health. Although various genes have been implicated, the molecular causes of these conditions remain elusive, with most patients lacking a genetic diagnosis. Methods: GnRH neurons and non-GnRH cells were FACS-isolated from mouse embryo microdissections to perform high-resolution transcriptomic profiling during mouse embryonic development. We analyzed our dataset to reveal GnRH neuron molecular identity, gene expression dynamics, and cell-to-cell communication. The spatial context of candidate genes was validated using in situ hybridization and spatial transcriptomic analysis. The possible links with human reproduction in health and disease were explored using enrichment analysis on GWAS data and analyzing the genetic burden of patients with congenital GnRH deficiency. Results: GnRH neurons undergo a profound transcriptional shift as they migrate from the nose to the brain and display expression trajectories associating with distinct biological processes, including cell migration, neuronal projections, and synapse formation. We revealed a timely and spatially restricted modulation of signaling pathways involving known and novel molecules, including Semaphorins and Neurexins, respectively. A particular set of genes, whose expression in GnRH neurons timely rises in late developmental stages, showed a strong association with GWAS genes linked with human reproductive onset. Finally, some of the identified trajectories harbor a diagnostic potential for congenital hypogonadism. This is supported by genetic analysis in a large cohort of patients affected by congenital GnRH deficiency, revealing a high mutation burden in patients compared to healthy controls. Conclusion: We charted the landscape of gene expression dynamics underlying murine GnRH neuron embryonic development. Our study highlights new genes in GnRH neuron development and provides novel insights linking those genes with human reproduction.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.7150/thno.91873
Scopus ID

2-s2.0-86000130623

Author(s)
Zouaghi, Yassine

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois

Alpern, Daniel  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Gardeux, Vincent  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Russeil, Julie  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Deplancke, Bart  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Santoni, Federico

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois

Pitteloud, Nelly

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois

Messina, Andrea

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois

Date Issued

2025

Published in
Theranostics
Volume

15

Issue

8

Start page

3673

End page

3692

Subjects

embryonic development

•

genetics

•

GnRH neuron

•

human reproduction

•

RNAseq

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
UPDEPLA  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

University of Lausanne

Swiss National Fund

SNF310030B_201275,SNF310030_205068

Available on Infoscience
March 20, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/248070
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