Publication: Detection of platelet-derived growth factor-alpha (PDGF-A) protein in cells of Leydig lineage in the postnatal rat testis
Loading...
Date
2006
Authors
Fecteau, K.A. ; Mrkonjich, L. ; Mason, J.I. ; Mendis-Handagama, S.M.L.C.
item.page.secondaryauthor
item.page.director
Publisher
Murcia : F. Hernández
publication.page.editor
publication.page.department
DOI
item.page.type
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Description
Abstract
Platelet-derived growth factor-A (PDGF-A)
is a locally produced growth factor in the rat testis
secreted by both Sertoli cells and Leydig cells. It has
been suggested that PDGF-A may be involved in
modulation of testosterone production and may be
essential to Leydig cell differentiation, however it is not
known at what stage of differentiation PDGF-A begins
to be expressed in the cells of Leydig lineage in the
postnatal rat testis. Therefore, the objectives of this
research were to determine at what postnatal age and in
which cell type is PDGF-A first expressed in cells of the
adult Leydig cell lineage, and does PDGF-A expression
coincide with expression of 3ß-hydroxysteroid
dehydrogenase (3ß-HSD), an indicator of steroid
hormone synthesis. Male Sprague Dawley rats of
postnatal day 1, 7, 9-14, 21, 28, 40, 60, and 90 were used
(n=6). Animals were euthanized and their testicles
removed, fixed in Bouin’s solution, embedded in
paraffin, and 5 µ m sections were prepared.
Immunolocalization of PDGF-A and 3ß-HSD was
carried out using a peroxidase-streptavidin-biotin
method. PDGF-A was first detected in cells of the
Leydig cell lineage at postnatal day 10 in progenitor cells, which were surrounding the seminiferous tubules
(peritubular). These cells were confirmed to be the
progenitor cells and not the mesenchymal or any other
spindle-shaped cells in the testis interstitium by
immunolocalization of 3ß-HSD and PDGF-A in the cells
in adjacent sections of testis tissue from rats of postnatal
days 10-14. After postnatal day 10, PDGF-A was
continued to be expressed in subsequent cells of the
Leydig lineage through day 90 (adult), however, was not
present in peritubular mesenchymal precursor cells of
the Leydig cell lineage or any other spindle-shaped cells in the testis interstitium at any tested age. These results
revealed that PDGF-A first appears in Leydig progenitor
cells in the postnatal rat testis at the onset of
mesenchymal cell differentiation into progenitor cells at
postnatal day 10 and suggest that a functional role(s) of
PDGF-A in postnatally differentiated Leydig cells in the
rat testis is established at the time of the onset of
postnatal Leydig stem cell differentiation. It is suggested
that the significance of the first expression of PDGF-A
in the Leydig progenitor cells may be associated with
inducing cell proliferation and migration of this cell
away from the peritubular region during Leydig cell
differentiation.
publication.page.subject
Citation
item.page.embargo
Ir a Estadísticas
Sin licencia Creative Commons.