The blood-testis barrier (BTB) is an important ultrastructure in the seminiferous tubule of the mammalian testis that segregates the events of spermatogenesis, in particular post-meiotic germ cell development, from the harmful substances in the environment including toxicants and drugs, as well as from the unwanted hormones and biomolecules in the systemic circulation. It is known that the BTB ...

Adult male medaka (Oryzias latipes) were exposed to 10 ppm of cadmium for 96 h, and the testes were examined histopathologically. Numerous apoptotic cells were found in the spermatogonia and spermatocytes at 72 and 96 h after initiation of cadmium exposure, and the pyknotic index, TUNEL-positive rate, and cleaved caspase-3-positive rate in the spermatogonia and spermatocytes of the cadmium-trea...

Azoospermic factor c (AZFc) deletions are the underlying cause in 10% of azoo- or severe oligozoospermia. Through extensive molecular analysis the precise genetic content of the AZFc region and the origin of its deletion have been determined. However, little is known about the effect of AZFc deletions on the functionality of germ cells at various developmental steps. The presence of normal, fer...

To characterize the histomorphologic effects of cadmium on adult newt testes, male Iberian ribbed newts (6 months post-hatching) were intraperitoneally exposed to a single dose of 50 mg/kg of cadmium, with histologic analysis of the testes at 24, 48, 72, and 96 h. Beginning 24 h after cadmium exposure, apoptosis of spermatogonia and spermatocytes was observed, and congestion was observed in the...

Synbranchus marmoratus, is a protogynic diandric species in which two types of males, primary and secondary, are found. In both types, the germinal compartment in the testes is of the unrestricted lobular type, but in secondary (sex reversed females) males the lobules develop within the former ovarian lamellae. In the present study, the germinal compartment was examined in both types of males u...

The endemic Rhodanian percid Zingel asper (Linnaeus, 1758), is usually found throughout the Rhône basin, but this fish is now in sharp decline. Understanding its reproductive physiology is important so as to be able to artificially control its reproduction with a view to re-introducing it. This study was carried out on a population obtained by artificial fertilization and bred in external tanks...

AIM The aim of this study was to determine the action of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) on testicular cell proliferation during early postnatal life, a definite developmental time at which crucial changes in germ cell and Sertoli cell maturation occur. METHODS We investigated the effect of BMP2 and BMP7, two factors which belong to the relatively distant decapentaplegic (DPP) and 60 A cla...

We immunohistochemically evaluated UTF1 in 104 primary and 68 metastatic testicular germ cell tumors and 339 non-germ cell tumors. The percentage of tumor cells stained was semiquantitatively scored (0, no tumor cell staining; 1+, ≤30% of cells; 2+, 31%-60% of cells; 3+, 61%-90% of cells; 4+, >90% of cells). Staining intensity (nuclear) was scored as weak, moderate, or strong. UTF1 staining was...