| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Submitted on July 27, 2005
Accepted on September 22, 2005
Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Institut Clinique de la Souris (ICS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) / Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) / Université Louis Pasteur de Strasbourg (ULP) /Collège de France. BP10142, 67404 Illkirch Cedex, Communauté Urbaine de Strasbourg, France
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: marek{at}igbmc.u-strasbg.fr.
As a first step in investigating the role of retinoic acid (RA) in mouse testis, we analyzed the distribution pattern of the enzymes involved in vitamin A storage (LRAT), RA synthesis (BCMO1, RALDHs) and RA degradation (CYP26s), as well as those of all isotypes of receptors transducing the RA signal (RARs and RXRs). Our data indicate that in adult testis (i) CYP26 enzymes may generate, in peritubular myoid cells, a catabolic barrier that prevents circulating RA and RA synthesized by Leydig cells to enter the seminiferous epithelium; (ii) the compartmentalization of RA synthesis within this epithelium may modulate, through paracrine mechanisms, the coupling between spermatogonia proliferation and spermatogenesis; (iii) retinyl esters synthesized in round spermatids by LRAT may be transferred and stored in Sertoli cells, in the form of ADFP-coated lipid droplets. We also show that RAR
and RXR
are confined to Sertoli cells, while RAR
is expressed in spermatogonia and RAR, RXR and RXR are colocalised in step 7-8 spermatids. Correlating these expression patterns with the pathological phenotypes generated in response to RAR and RXR mutations and to postnatal vitamin A-deficiency, suggests that spermiation requires RXR/RAR heterodimers in Sertoli cells, while spermatogonia proliferation involves, independently of RXR, two distinct RAR-mediated signaling pathways in both Sertoli cells and spermatogonia. Our data also suggest that the involvement of RA in testis development starts when primary spermatogonia first appear.
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  S. M. Nowickyj, J. V. Chithalen, D. Cameron, M. G. Tyshenko, M. Petkovich, G. R. Wyatt, G. Jones, and V. K. Walker Locust retinoid X receptors: 9-Cis-retinoic acid in embryos from a primitive insect PNAS, July 15, 2008; 105(28): 9540 - 9545. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. Ruiz, N. B. Ghyselinck, N. Mata, S. Nusinowitz, M. Lloyd, C. Dennefeld, P. Chambon, and D. Bok Somatic Ablation of the Lrat Gene in the Mouse Retinal Pigment Epithelium Drastically Reduces Its Retinoid Storage Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., December 1, 2007; 48(12): 5377 - 5387. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 W. S. Blaner and C. L. Mendelsohn Retinoid Inactivation: Survival Factor for Male Germ Cells Endocrinology, October 1, 2007; 148(10): 4557 - 4559. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. Bowles and P. Koopman Retinoic acid, meiosis and germ cell fate in mammals Development, October 1, 2007; 134(19): 3401 - 3411. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. J. O'Shaughnessy, M. Abel, H. M. Charlton, B. Hu, H. Johnston, and P. J. Baker Altered Expression of Genes Involved in Regulation of Vitamin A Metabolism, Solute Transportation, and Cytoskeletal Function in the Androgen-Insensitive Tfm Mouse Testis Endocrinology, June 1, 2007; 148(6): 2914 - 2924. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. Han, H. Song, I. Moon, R. Augustin, K. Moley, M. Rogers, and H. Lim Utilization of DR1 as true RARE in regulating the Ssm, a novel retinoic acid-target gene in the mouse testis J. Endocrinol., March 1, 2007; 192(3): 539 - 551. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH |
| Endocrinology | Endocrine Reviews | J. Clin. End. & Metab. |
| Molecular Endocrinology | Recent Prog. Horm. Res. | All Endocrine Journals |
