The detrimental effects of estrogen on testicular function provide a conceptual basis to examine the speculative link between increased exposure to estrogens and spermatogenic cell death. Using an in vitro model, we provide an understanding of the events leading to estrogen-induced apoptosis in cells of spermatogenic lineage. Early events associated with estrogen exposure were up-regulation of ...

In-vitro differentiation of spermatogenic cells is a potential approach to the treatment of male sterility due to spermatogenic arrest. This is a pilot study evaluating meiotic, morphogenetic and cytoplasmic maturation of spermatogenic cells from 18 patients with obstructive azoospermia, during in-vitro culture of partly disintegrated testicular biopsy samples in the presence or absence of reco...

Sperm are highly specialized cells, and their formation requires the synthesis of a large number of unique mRNAs. However, little is known about the transcriptional mechanisms that direct male germ cell differentiation. Sterol response element binding protein 2gc (SREBP2gc) is a spermatogenic cell-enriched isoform of the ubiquitous transcription factor SREBP2, which in somatic cells is required...

Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)- A-deficient male mice were found to develop progressive reduction of testicular size, Leydig cells loss, and spermatogenic arrest. In normal mice, the PDGF-A and PDGF-Ralpha expression pattern showed positive cells in the seminiferous epithelium and in interstitial mesenchymal cells, respectively. The testicular defects seen in PDGF-A-/- mice, combined wit...

Plasma membrane glycoproteins present in purified mouse spermatogenic cells have been identified by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and lectin blotting techniques. Four membrane glycoproteins labelled with Bandeiraea simplicifolia lectin (I) have been detected, ranging in Mr from 55 000 to 76 000 and in pI from 6.0 to 6.3. Only one of these proteins, p76/6.3, is synthesized b...

The Cdc2-cyclin B complex (named the M-phase-promoting factor, MPF) is well known to be a key regulator of G2-M transition in both mitosis and meiosis. However, MPF may have functions other than the cell cycle regulation, since its activity is detectable in post-mitotic (or post-meiotic) non-dividing cells. Cyclin B comprises several subtypes, but their functional differences are still unknown....

To determine the mechanisms of spermatogenesis, it is essential to identify and characterize germ cell-specific genes. Here we describe a protein encoded by a novel germ cell-specific gene, Mm.290718/ZFP541, identified from the mouse spermatocyte UniGene library. The protein contains specific motifs and domains potentially involved in DNA binding and chromatin reorganization. An antibody agains...