Drews U, Dieterich H J
Anat Embryol (Berl). 1978 Feb 20;152(2):193-203. doi: 10.1007/BF00315924.
Sex reversed mice heterozygous for testicular feminization are genetic females which are converted to males by the autosomal Sxr ("sex reversed") mutation, thus imitating the Y-chromosome. They carry on one of their X-chromosomes the mutation for testicular feminization. Then, X-inactivation leads to the formation of a mosaic of androgen insensitive XTfm and androgen sensitive X+ cells. In the epididymis the Tfm cells are maintained into adulthood as undifferentiated flat cells. There are however, always less Tfm cells than expected from random X-inactivation. Therefore, in the present study the role of cell death in the modification of the original mosaic is investigated before and after castration. It is shown that survival or elimination of Tfm cells depends on the structure of the smooth muscle layers around the epididymal duct. In addition to elimination of whole Tfm sections, a steady loss of single cells, not only in the Tfm but also in the wild-type fraction occurs. In the connective tissue distinct necrotic areas are present. After castration massive necroses appear in both cell types. In Tfm sections disintegration of the wall layers again leads to elimination of Tfm cells and to protrusion of epithelial cells in the interstitium which later on may be organized as abnormal sprouts and ducts. The observations indicate that the testosterone dependent trophic principle is based on short-range intercellular interactions and presumably arises in the connective tissue component of the epididymis.
睾丸女性化基因杂合的性反转小鼠是遗传上的雌性，通过常染色体Sxr（“性反转”）突变转变为雄性，从而模拟Y染色体。它们的一条X染色体携带睾丸女性化突变。然后，X染色体失活导致形成雄激素不敏感的XTfm细胞和雄激素敏感的X +细胞的嵌合体。在附睾中，Tfm细胞在成年期仍保持为未分化的扁平细胞。然而，Tfm细胞的数量总是比随机X染色体失活预期的要少。因此，在本研究中，研究了阉割前后细胞死亡在原始嵌合体修饰中的作用。结果表明，Tfm细胞的存活或消除取决于附睾管周围平滑肌层的结构。除了消除整个Tfm切片外，不仅在Tfm细胞中，而且在野生型部分中也会稳定地丢失单个细胞。在结缔组织中存在明显的坏死区域。阉割后，两种细胞类型都会出现大量坏死。在Tfm切片中，壁层的解体再次导致Tfm细胞的消除和上皮细胞在间质中的突出，随后这些上皮细胞可能组织成异常的芽和导管。这些观察结果表明，睾酮依赖性营养原理基于短程细胞间相互作用，可能起源于附睾的结缔组织成分。
