AUTHOR=Han Shan , Zhang Yuqing , Zheng Yukun , Liu Congcong , Jiang Yonghui , Zhao Shigang , Zhao Han 

TITLE=Thada Is Dispensable for Female Fertility in Mice

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Endocrinology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2022.787733

DOI=10.3389/fendo.2022.787733

ISSN=1664-2392

ABSTRACT=<p>Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified <italic>THADA</italic> as one of the susceptibility genes for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the <italic>THADA</italic> gene showed significant over-transmission in PCOS and strong correlations with testosterone level. However, there was insufficient evidence to verify the effect of <italic>THADA in vivo</italic> on female reproductive system. In this study, we investigated the impacts of <italic>Thada</italic> ablation on ovarian function and reproductive outcomes with knockout (KO) mice. The results showed that the <italic>Thada</italic> deletion was insufficient to affect ovarian folliculogenesis, steroidogenesis, and female fertility. Additionally, we stressed the mice with high-fat-high-sugar diet (HFHS). In this case, the KO mice still merely had a negligible impact on ovarian function. These findings indicated that <italic>Thada</italic> deficiency was dispensable for female fertility in mice, which enriched our knowledge about <italic>in vivo</italic> functions of PCOS susceptibility genes.</p>