Testicular lumicrine factors regulate ERK, STAT, and NFKB pathways in the initial segment of the rat epididymis to prevent apoptosis.

ABSTRACT: The initial segment of the epididymis is vital for male fertility; therefore, it is important to understand the mechanisms that regulate this important region. Deprival of testicular luminal fluid factors/lumicrine factors from the epididymis results in a wave of apoptosis in the initial segment. In this study, a combination of protein array and microarray analyses was used to examine the early changes in downstream signal transduction pathways following loss of lumicrine factors. We discovered the following cascade of events leading to the loss of protection and eventual apoptosis: in the first 6 h after loss of lumicrine factors, down-regulation of the ERK pathway components was observed at the mRNA expression and protein activity levels. Microarray analysis revealed that mRNA levels of

SUBMITTER: Xu B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3099589 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature