Xenopus embryonic epidermis as a mucociliary cellular ecosystem to assess the effect of sex hormones in a non-reproductive context.

ABSTRACT:

Background

How important are sexual hormones beyond their function in reproductive biology has yet to be understood. In this study, we analyzed the effects of sex steroids on the biology of the embryonic amphibian epidermis, which represents an easily amenable model of non-reproductive mucociliary epithelia (MCE). MCE are integrated systems formed by multiciliated (MC), mucus-secreting (MS) and mitochondrion-rich (MR) cell populations that are shaped by their microenvironment. Therefore, MCE could be considered as ecosystems at the cellular scale, found in a wide array of contexts from mussel gills to mammalian oviduct.

Results

We showed that the natural estrogen (estradiol, E2) and androgen (testosterone, T) as well as the synthetic estrogen (ethinyl-estradiol, EE2), all in

SUBMITTER: Castillo-Briceno P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4015847 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature