Blood-testis barrier dynamics are regulated by testosterone and cytokines via their differential effects on the kinetics of protein endocytosis and recycling in Sertoli cells.

ABSTRACT: During spermatogenesis in the mammalian testis, preleptotene/leptotene spermatocytes differentiate from type B spermatogonia and traverse the blood-testis barrier (BTB) at stage VIII of the seminiferous epithelial cycle for further development. This timely movement of germ cells involves extensive junction restructuring at the BTB. Previous studies have shown that these events are regulated by testosterone (T) and cytokines [e.g., the transforming growth factor (TGF) -betas], which promote and disrupt the BTB assembly, respectively. However, the mechanisms underlying the "opening" of the BTB above a migrating preleptotene/leptotene spermatocyte and the "resealing" of the barrier underneath this cell remain obscure. We now report findings on a novel mechanism utilized by the testes to regul

SUBMITTER: Yan HH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2804916 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature