Spermatogenic cells have been previously shown to be a major site of testicular proenkephalin gene expression. Using RNA gel-blot analysis of purified mouse and hamster germ cells and of testes from prepuberal and germ cell-deficient mutant mice, we now have demonstrated that, in addition to its previously described expression by somatic (Leydig) cells, the gene for a second opioid peptide prec...

This review focuses on the striking differences in the patterns of transcription and translation in somatic and spermatogenic cells in mammals. In early haploid cells, mRNA translation evidently functions to restrict the synthesis of certain proteins, notably protamines, to transcriptionally inert late haploid cells. However, this does not explain why a substantial proportion of virtually all m...

Murine cytomegalovirus replicated in reproductive tissue of male mice infected with the virus. We examined three strains of mice latently infected by injection at birth with 100 plaque-forming units of the virus. As adults, these mice contained within their testes 4--6 viral genomic equivalents per 100 cells, as tested by hybridization between mouse DNA and cytomegalovirus DNA. Acutely infected...

Transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) directly interacts with transcription factors and regulates their transcriptional activity. Extensive functional studies have shown that TAZ plays critical regulatory roles in stem cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival and also modulates the development of organs such as the lung, kidney, heart, and bone. Despite the importanc...

Axonemal dynein complexes are preassembled in the cytoplasm before their transport to cilia, but the mechanism of this process remains unclear. We now show that mice lacking Pih1d3, a PIH1 domain-containing protein, develop normally but manifest male sterility. Pih1d3(-/-) sperm were immotile and fragile, with the axoneme of the flagellum lacking outer dynein arms (ODAs) and inner dynein arms (...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential protective effects of new Wenshen Shengjing Decoction (new WSSJD; including Cornu Cervi Nippon Parvum, Panax ginseng, Cynomorium songaricum, Cistanche deserticola, Radix Astragali, Epimedium brevicornum and Angelica sinensis) on cyclosporine-induced impairment of testosterone synthesis and spermatogenic apoptosis in mice. A total of ...

sertoli cells are an essential group of cells in seminiferous epithelium which provide nutritional and structural supports for spermatogenic cells via cell junctions. in this study, the gene expression of connexin-43, the most abundantly distributed gap junction protein of cells, was investigated in ram sertoli cells under mild and severe heat stresses with real-time quantitative pcr. sertoli c...

The specific activity of 2,3-dehydrodolichyl diphosphate synthase in homogenates of protease-treated seminiferous tubules, enriched spermatogenic cells, and Sertoli cells changed as a function of the age of prepuberal rats. The highest enzymatic activity occurred in each case in 23-day-old rats. Homogenates of pachytene spermatocytes, spermatids, or Sertoli cells had higher synthase activity th...