Expressional Modulation of Connexin Isoforms in the Initial Segment of Male Rat treated with Estradiol Benzoate or Flutamide.

ABSTRACT: Direct cell-cell communication through connexin (Cx) complexes is a way to achieve functional accordance of cells within a tissue or an organ. The initial segment (IS), a part of the epididymis, plays important roles in sperm maturation. Steroid hormones influence on expression of a number of genes in the IS of adult animals. However, developmental effect of sex hormones on the gene expression in the IS has not been examined. In this study, estradiol benzoate (EB, an estrogen agonist) or flutamide (Flu, an andevrepogen antagonist) was exogenously administrated at 1 week of postnatal age, and expressional changes of Cx genes in the IS were determined at 4 months of age by a quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Treatment of EB at 0.015 μg/kg body weight (BW) increased expression of Cx30.3, 3

SUBMITTER: Lee KH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4415647 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature