Aschim E L, Saether T, Wiger R, Grotmol T, Haugen T B
Andrology Laboratory, Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Rikshospitalet University Hospital, N-0027 Oslo, Norway.
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2004 Sep;92(1-2):97-106. doi: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2004.05.008.
A growing number of estrogen receptor beta (ER beta) splice variants are reported. Several of these have been discovered in testis, but with few exceptions little is known about their cellular localization. The aim of this study was to identify and elucidate the mRNA expression pattern of the different ER beta splice variants in human testicular cells. Northern analysis was performed on whole testis and fractions enriched in germ cells from untreated men and from estrogen-treated men undergoing sex change surgery. Probes were constructed in order to systematically screen for and identify various ER beta splice variants. Several ER beta bands were observed in the human testis, in which splice variants constituted the major part of total ER beta transcripts. Interestingly, only two ER beta wild-type transcripts were detected. These seem to be virtually absent from the haploid germ cells and are probably mainly located in somatic cells and/or primary spermatocytes. Several novel ER beta deletion variants were found in high levels in the haploid germ cell fractions and were nearly absent in testicular cells from the estrogen-treated men. The cell-dependent distribution raises the question whether splice variants may have specific functions in spermatogenesis, and whether the differential splicing of ER beta is regulated in a cell-specific manner.
据报道，雌激素受体β（ERβ）的剪接变体数量在不断增加。其中一些已在睾丸中被发现，但除少数例外，对其细胞定位了解甚少。本研究的目的是确定并阐明人睾丸细胞中不同ERβ剪接变体的mRNA表达模式。对未经治疗的男性以及接受变性手术的雌激素治疗男性的全睾丸和富含生殖细胞的部分进行了Northern分析。构建探针以便系统地筛选和鉴定各种ERβ剪接变体。在人睾丸中观察到几条ERβ条带，其中剪接变体构成了总ERβ转录本的主要部分。有趣的是，仅检测到两种ERβ野生型转录本。这些在单倍体生殖细胞中似乎几乎不存在，可能主要位于体细胞和/或初级精母细胞中。在单倍体生殖细胞部分中发现了几种新的ERβ缺失变体，而在雌激素治疗男性的睾丸细胞中几乎不存在。这种细胞依赖性分布引发了一个问题，即剪接变体在精子发生中是否可能具有特定功能，以及ERβ的差异剪接是否以细胞特异性方式受到调节。
