REPRODUCTIVE TOXICOLOGY: Environmental exposures, fetal testis development and function: phthalates and beyond.

ABSTRACT: Fetal development of the mammalian testis relies on a series of interrelated cellular processes: commitment of somatic progenitor cells to Sertoli and Leydig cell fate, migration of endothelial cells and Sertoli cells, differentiation of germ cells, deposition of the basement membrane, and establishment of cell-cell contacts, including Sertoli-Sertoli and Sertoli-germ cell contacts. These processes are orchestrated by intracellular, endocrine, and paracrine signaling processes. Because of this complexity, testis development can be disrupted by a variety of environmental toxicants. The toxicity of phthalic acid esters (phthalates) on the fetal testis has been the subject of extensive research for two decades, and phthalates have become an archetypal fetal testis toxicant. Phthalates disrupt

SUBMITTER: Li H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8497445 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature