Atypical septate junctions maintain the somatic enclosure around maturing spermatids and prevent premature sperm release in Drosophila testis.

ABSTRACT: Tight junctions prevent paracellular flow and maintain cell polarity in an epithelium. These junctions are also required for maintaining the blood-testis barrier, which is essential for sperm differentiation. Septate junctions in insects are orthologous to the tight junctions. In Drosophila testis, major septate junction components co-localize at the interface of germline and somatic cells initially, and then condense between the two somatic cells in a cyst after germline meiosis. Their localization is extensively remodeled in subsequent stages. We find that characteristic septate junctions are formed between the somatic cyst cells at the elongated spermatid stage. Consistent with previous reports, knockdown of essential junctional components - Discs-large-1 and Neurexin-IV - during

SUBMITTER: Dubey P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6398457 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature