Reduced OTUD6A Impairs Spermatogonia Proliferation and Contributes to Spermatogenic Arrest in Cattleyak.

Cattleyak is a hybrid between cattle and yak; the underlying mechanism for its spermatogenic arrest is still unclear, and it's a typical male sterile mammal. In this work, we cloned the OTUD6A gene of cattleyak and analyzed it by bioinformatics. The expression level of OTUD6A in testicular tissues and undifferentiated spermatogonia of cattleyak was significantly lower than that in yak (p < 0.05). Overexpression of OTUD6A in cattleyak promoted the viability and proliferation activity of cattleyak undifferentiated spermatogonia (p < 0.05). Furthermore, OTUD6A overexpression resulted in significant upregulation of genes associated with proliferation (p < 0.05). Therefore, the aberrant expression of OTUD6A in undifferentiated spermatogonia of cattleyak impaired its proliferation and decreased its growth potentiality, thereby affecting the development of undifferentiated spermatogonia. This study provided a new theoretical basis for further elucidation of the molecular mechanism of spermatogenesis arrest in cattleyak.