Expression profile of Chchd10 gene during testicular development.

Chchd10 protein is crucial for sustaining mitochondrial dynamics, physiology and functions, and has been reported to be most abundantly in myocardial cells and skeletal muscle. However, nothing is known for the expression pattern of Chchd10 in gonadal development. Here, we characterized the expression patterns of Chchd10 gene during embryonic gonad development and postnatal testis development in mice, as well as the expression pattern of Chchd10 gene in human puberty testis and young adult testis using publicly available datasets. Besides, we investigated the expression and distribution of Chchd10 in mice testis by RT-qPCR and immunofluorescence and analyzed the possible role and mechanism of Chchd10 in the testis. We noticed that Chchd10 showed abundant expression in embryonic testis compared to ovaries and dynamically expressed during embryonic and postnatal testis development in mice. In addition, Chchd10 was highly abundant within testicular Sertoli cells populations both in embryonic and postnatal mice and mainly located in the mitochondria of Sertoli cells in mice. Furthermore, CHCHD10 was not only enriched in Sertoli cells, but also highly expressed in tMΦ of human puberty testis and adult testis. CHCHD10 may participate in testicular development by regulating multiple biological processes of Sertoli cells. Taken together, our data indicated that Chchd10 appears to be important during testicular development, particularly in the functional modulation of Sertoli cells. Our study revealed the expression profile of Chchd10 gene during testicular development for the first time and will provide new ideas for further studying the function and molecular mechanism of Chchd10.