Phosphoproteomic analysis of the adaption of epididymal epithelial cells to corticosterone challenge




Skerrett-Byrne David A., Stanger Simone J., Trigg Natalie A., Anderson Amanda L., Sipilä Petra, Bernstein Ilana R., Lord Tessa, Schjenken John E., Murray Heather C., Verrills Nicole M., Dun Matthew D., Pang Terence Y., Nixon Brett

PublisherWiley-Blackwell

2024

Andrology

Andrology

Andrology

12

5

1038

1057

2047-2919

2047-2927

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1111/andr.13636

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/andr.13636

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/387600374



Background: The epididymis has long been of interest owing to its role in promoting the functional maturation of the male germline. More recent evidence has also implicated the epididymis as an important sensory tissue responsible for remodeling of the sperm epigenome, both under physiological conditions and in response to diverse forms of environmental stress. Despite this knowledge, the intricacies of the molecular pathways involved in regulating the adaptation of epididymal tissue to paternal stressors remains to be fully resolved.

Objective: The overall objective of this study was to investigate the direct impact of corticosterone challenge on a tractable epididymal epithelial cell line (i.e., mECap18 cells), in terms of driving adaptation of the cellular proteome and phosphoproteome signaling networks.

Materials and methods: The newly developed phosphoproteomic platform EasyPhos coupled with sequencing via an Orbitrap Exploris 480 mass spectrometer, was applied to survey global changes in the mECap18 cell (phospho)proteome resulting from sub-chronic (10-day) corticosterone challenge.

Results: The imposed corticosterone exposure regimen elicited relatively subtle modifications of the global mECap18 proteome (i.e., only 73 out of 4171 [∼1.8%] proteins displayed altered abundance). By contrast, ∼15% of the mECap18 phosphoproteome was substantially altered following corticosterone challenge. In silico analysis of the corresponding parent proteins revealed an activation of pathways linked to DNA damage repair and oxidative stress responses as well as a reciprocal inhibition of pathways associated with organismal death. Corticosterone challenge also induced the phosphorylation of several proteins linked to the biogenesis of microRNAs. Accordingly, orthogonal validation strategies confirmed an increase in DNA damage, which was ameliorated upon selective kinase inhibition, and an altered abundance profile of a subset of microRNAs in corticosterone-treated cells.

Conclusions: Together, these data confirm that epididymal epithelial cells are reactive to corticosterone challenge, and that their response is tightly coupled to the opposing action of cellular kinases and phosphatases.


Last updated on 2025-21-03 at 09:30