Transcriptome analyses reveal key features of mouse seminal vesicle during aging

Despite the dramatic changes in morphology occurring in the seminal vesicles during aging, the transcriptomic characteristics are poorly understood. Thus, we performed a bulk RNA sequencing on seminal vesicle samples from 3-month-old, 13-month-old, and 21-month-old mice to elucidate transcriptomic changes in this study. Comparing 3-month-old mice with the 21-month-old, inflammatory and immune response were identified as the most significantly biological process in upregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Meanwhile, “chemokine signaling pathway” was identified as a key pathway. Indeed, a series of DEGs were enriched in “chemokine signaling pathway”, including Ccl6, Ccl8, Ccl9, Ccr2, Ccr5 and Ccr7. Hub genes such as Ptprc, Adgre1, H2-Ab1 and Ctss were obtained through Protein-Protein interaction network analysis among the continuously up-regulated differentially expressed genes in mouse seminal vesicles at three different ages. These analyses revealed an increased status of immune and inflammatory response in the aged seminal vesicles. In addition, multiple aging-associated DEGs were identified, including Vcam1, Apoe and Cdkn1a. To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the general transcriptome landscape of the seminal vesicles in a murine model of natural aging, which may provide novel insights involved in aging-related seminal vesicle dysfunction.