The permeability of Sertoli cell tight junctions to lanthanum administered during fixation has been compared in rats after ligation of the ductus deferens and after ligation of the ductuli efferentes. In both control and vasoligated testes, lanthanum penetrated only short distances into the Sertoli cell tight junctions before stopping abruptly. The tight junction, consisting of numerous pentala...

Development and maintenance of the male phenotype and establishment of fertility are all dependent upon the activity of the Sertoli cells and Leydig cells of the testis. This review examines the regulation and function of these cell during fetal and post-natal development. Fetal Leydig cells are sensitive to both luteinising hormone (LH) and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) but Leydig cell f...

stem cells are generally defined as clonogenic cells capable of both self-renewal and differentiation. probably the best method for long-term preservation of spermatogonial stem cells is cryopreservation. in this study, effects of follicle stimulating hormone and testosterone on viability rate of cryopreserved spermatogonial stem cell after thawing were investigated. sertoli and spermatogonial ...

ARID4A and ARID4B are homologous members of the ARID (AT-rich interaction domain) gene family. ARID4A and ARID4B physically interact with each other. ARID4A is a retinoblastoma (RB)-binding protein. Biological function of these interactions is still unknown. Here, we report that mice with complete deficiency of Arid4a, combined with haploinsufficiency of Arid4b (Arid4a(-/-)Arid4b(+/-)), showed ...

A 12-year-old female with developmental delay/mental retardation and a family history of gynecologic cancers presented with nonspecific abdominal complaints and was found to have a 4.5-kg, 25- x 23- x 15-cm pelvic mass with solid and cystic components and associated retroperitoneal and mesenteric lymphadenopathy. Laboratory studies revealed increased serum levels of CA-125 and inhibin B. Histol...

CASE REPORT A 78-year-old man presented with a new growth in his right testis which was uncomfortable, but not painful. He reported a progression in growth over the past few months, and stated that it was doubled in size in the previous month. His past medical history included mumps as a child, hypertension, and recurrent urolithiasis with reported spontaneous passage of calcium oxalate calculi...

objective(s): although many researchers have confirmed induction of germ cells from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (bmmscs), there are no reports that confirm spontaneous differentiation of germ cells from bmmscs. in this study, we have evaluated the effect of adult sertoli cell condition medium (sccm) as a mutative factor in the induction of germ cells from bmmscs. materials and methods: b...

Perinatal and juvenile oral treatment of rats with the insecticide, methoxychlor (MXC), reduced testicular size and other reproductive indices including the number of epididymal spermatozoa in those animals as adults 161. The objective was to determine if these males exposed during development had fewer Sertoli cells which might explain these testicular effects. Rat dams were gavaged with MXC a...

Intratesticular injections of glycerol have been shown to result in a marked and prolonged reduction of spermatogenesis, accompanied by increased permeability of the blood-testis barrier. Because the permeability of the blood-testis barrier is regulated by Sertoli cell tight junctions, and tight junction organization is regulated by the cytoskeleton, we undertook to examine the effects of glyce...

The dramatic changes that male germ cells in the adult testis undergo in gene expression profile and morphology as they transition from spermatogonial stem cells through to mature spermatozoa is dependent upon their association with Sertoli cells. Sertoli cells are crucial for survival and maturation of male germ cells. Two recent papers, Holembowski et al. and Inoue et al. have described a sur...