Department of Veterinary Sciences and Technologies for Food Safety, Laboratory of Anatomy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy.
Theriogenology. 2010 Dec;74(9):1661-9. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2010.06.039. Epub 2010 Aug 13.
Expression of aquaporin water channels (AQPs) in the male excurrent ducts, is of major importance for local water movements. To study the influence of pre- and postnatal undernutrition on AQP-expression in the adult male genital tract, 4 pregnant female rats were fed ad libitum (control group) and 4 with 33.5% of gestational feed requirements (underfed group). Feeding restriction of underfed group pups continued up to weaning (25 days of age), then all pups were fed ad libitum until slaughtered at 100 days of age. Epididymides were sampled and processed for aquaporin immunohistochemistry. Expression of AQP1 was similar either in the control and underfed groups of rats, strongly evidenced at the apical and lateral plasma membrane of the efferent ducts non-ciliated cells, in the smooth muscle cells surrounding epididymal duct and in blood vessel endothelium throughout the epididymis. AQP2-immunoreactivity was present in the corpus and cauda regions, strongly expressed in the principal cells of both groups of rats. In contrast, AQP9 expression was modified by early life undernourishment, as it was weakly evidenced at the microvilli in the principal cells and strongly diminished or completely lacked in the clear cells of the cauda, in underfed group epididymides. Since it is known that clear cells are involved in luminal fluid acidification, this function might be altered in adult animals, which were underfed during early life.
水通道蛋白（AQP）在雄性输出导管中的表达对于局部水运动非常重要。为了研究产前和产后营养不良对成年雄性生殖道 AQP 表达的影响，将 4 只怀孕雌性大鼠进行自由喂养（对照组），将 4 只怀孕雌性大鼠进行 33.5%的妊娠期喂养（喂养不足组）。喂养不足组的幼崽的喂养限制持续到断奶（25 天大），然后所有幼崽都进行自由喂养，直到 100 天大屠宰。采集附睾并进行 AQP 免疫组织化学处理。AQP1 的表达在对照组和喂养不足组的大鼠中相似，在输出导管非纤毛细胞的顶膜和侧膜、附睾管周围的平滑肌细胞以及附睾中的血管内皮中强烈表达。AQP2-免疫反应性存在于体部和尾部区域，在两组大鼠的主细胞中强烈表达。相比之下，AQP9 的表达受到早期生活营养不良的影响，因为它在主细胞的微绒毛中表达较弱，在喂养不足组的尾部透明细胞中表达减弱或完全缺乏。由于已知透明细胞参与管腔液酸化，因此这种功能可能会在早期生活中受到限制的成年动物中发生改变。
