Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325027, China; Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325027, China; Zhejiang Province Key Lab of Anesthesiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325027, China.
Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325027, China.
Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2019 Feb 5;481:35-43. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2018.11.007. Epub 2018 Nov 23.
We reported previously that stem Leydig cells (SLC) on the surfaces of rat testicular seminiferous tubules are able to differentiate into Leydig cells. The proliferation and differentiation of SLCs seem likely to be regulated by niche cells, including nearby germ and Sertoli cells. Due to the cyclical nature of spermatogenesis, we hypothesized that the changes in the germ cell composition of the seminiferous tubules as spermatogenesis proceeds may affect tubule-associated SLC functions. To test this hypothesis, we compared the ability of SLCs associated with tubules at different stages of the cycle to differentiate into Leydig cells in vitro. SLCs associated with stages IX-XI were more active in proliferation and differentiation than SLCs associated with stages VII-VIII. However, when the SLCs were isolated from each of the two groups of tubules and cultured in vitro, no differences were seen in their ability to proliferate or differentiate. These results suggested that the stage-dependent local factors, not the SLCs themselves, explain the stage-dependent differences in SLC function. TGFB, produced in stage-specific fashion by Sertoli cells, is among the factors shown in previous studies to affect SLC function in vitro. When TGFB inhibitors were included in the cultures of stages IX-XI and VII-VIII tubules, stage-dependent differences in SLC development were reduced, suggesting that TGFB may be among the paracrine factors involved in the stage-dependent differences in SLC function. Taken together, the findings suggest that there is dynamic interaction between SLCs and germ/Sertoli cells within the seminiferous tubules that may affect SLC proliferation and differentiation.
我们之前报道过，大鼠睾丸生精小管表面的间质 Leydig 细胞（SLC）能够分化为 Leydig 细胞。SLC 的增殖和分化似乎受到龛细胞的调节，包括附近的精母细胞和支持细胞。由于精子发生的周期性，我们假设生精小管中精母细胞组成的变化可能会影响与小管相关的 SLC 功能。为了验证这一假设，我们比较了不同周期阶段生精小管相关 SLC 分化为 Leydig 细胞的能力。与 VII-VIII 期生精小管相关的 SLC 增殖和分化活性高于与 IX-XI 期生精小管相关的 SLC。然而，当将 SLC 从这两组小管中分离出来并在体外培养时，它们的增殖或分化能力没有差异。这些结果表明，是周期依赖性的局部因素，而不是 SLC 本身，解释了 SLC 功能的周期依赖性差异。转化生长因子β（TGFβ）是支持细胞以特定阶段产生的因子之一，在以前的研究中被证明会影响体外 SLC 功能。当 TGFβ 抑制剂被包含在 IX-XI 和 VII-VIII 期小管的培养物中时，SLC 发育的周期依赖性差异减少，这表明 TGFβ 可能是参与 SLC 功能的周期依赖性差异的旁分泌因子之一。总之，这些发现表明，生精小管内 SLC 与精母细胞/支持细胞之间存在动态相互作用，可能影响 SLC 的增殖和分化。
