Endothelin-1: a new autocrine/paracrine factor in rat testis.

Cultured Sertoli cells of 20-day-old rats were found to produce and release endothelin-1-like immunoreactivity (ET-1-LI) under follicle-stimulating hormone control. The elution profile of ET-1-LI from extracts of spent Sertoli cell culture medium corresponds to that of synthetic ET-1, suggesting a testicular production of authentic ET-1. In contrast, the conditioned medium from rat Leydig cells did not contain ET-1-LI. Immunohistochemical studies confirmed that, in 20-day-old rats, the positive staining was confined to some Sertoli cells, whereas interstitial cells were negative. In the adult rat testis the positivity was not limited to the tubular compartment (Sertoli cells) but was also present in the interstitium. A high concentration (13 pmol/mg protein) of high-affinity (dissociation constant = 0.6 nM) 125I-labeled ET-1 binding sites was present in Leydig cells. These sites bind ET-1 and ET-2 with 1,000-fold higher affinity than ET-3, suggesting that they correspond to the subtype ETA of the ET receptors. Specific 125I-ET-1 binding sites are present also in Sertoli cells but are 50-fold less concentrated than in Leydig cells. Our results suggest an autocrine/paracrine role for ET-1 in rat testis.