Minagawa I, Murata Y, Terada K, Shibata M, Park E Y, Sasada H, Kohsaka T
Department of Applied Life Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka, Japan.
Department of Agriculture, Graduate School of Integrated Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka, Japan.
Andrologia. 2018 Aug;50(6):e13010. doi: 10.1111/and.13010. Epub 2018 Mar 25.
Insulin-like factor 3 (INSL3), previously called relaxin-like factor, is essential for foetal testis descent and has been implicated in sperm production in adult males. This study investigated the role of INSL3 in sperm production by examining the effect of neutralising INSL3 by passive immunisation on testicular function and sperm output in boars. Six male Duroc boars were randomly assigned to passive immunisation and control groups (n = 3 each). The immunisation group was intravenously injected with an IgG fraction of anti-INSL3 antibody developed against the B domain of INSL3 at 2-week intervals from 21-40 weeks of age. The control group was treated with normal IgG in the same manner. Antibody administration reduced testis weight and caused a fourfold increase in the frequency of apoptotic germ cells, which was associated with upregulation of the pro-apoptotic caspase 3 and BAX, and downregulation of the anti-apoptotic XIAP and BCL2, and a substantial marked reduction in sperm concentration. Neutralising INSL3 delivered by passive immunisation reduced testis weight and sperm concentration by inducing germ cell apoptosis, suggesting that INSL3 acts as a germ cell survival/anti-apoptotic factor in the maintenance of sperm production.
胰岛素样因子3（INSL3），以前称为松弛素样因子，对胎儿睾丸下降至关重要，并且与成年男性的精子生成有关。本研究通过检测被动免疫中和INSL3对公猪睾丸功能和精子输出的影响，来探究INSL3在精子生成中的作用。将六头雄性杜洛克公猪随机分为被动免疫组和对照组（每组n = 3）。免疫组在21至40周龄期间每隔2周静脉注射一次针对INSL3 B结构域产生的抗INSL3抗体的IgG组分。对照组以相同方式用正常IgG处理。抗体给药使睾丸重量减轻，并使凋亡生殖细胞的频率增加了四倍，这与促凋亡半胱天冬酶3和BAX的上调、抗凋亡XIAP和BCL2的下调有关，并且精子浓度大幅显著降低。被动免疫中和INSL3通过诱导生殖细胞凋亡降低了睾丸重量和精子浓度，表明INSL3在维持精子生成中作为生殖细胞存活/抗凋亡因子发挥作用。
