Blanco-Rodríguez J, Martínez-García C
Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Valladolid University, Spain.
J Androl. 1998 Jul-Aug;19(4):487-97.
Spontaneous germ cell death during spermatogenesis is an important event, and the usefulness of the seminiferous epithelium as an in vivo model to study apoptosis has been evidenced. Nevertheless, the response of the testis to apoptogenic agents has not been analyzed. This study was designed to determine germ cell sensitivity to induction of apoptosis and to provide baseline data on the testis response to several apoptogenic agents. Induced apoptosis was assessed by in situ DNA 3'-end labeling and quantified at every stage of the spermatogenic cycle. The shortest response time for every agent was established based on morphological and quantitative criteria. Our results show significantly increased incidence of germ cell deaths after all treatments, mainly at stages I, XII, and XIV. These specific stages coincide with those at which the greatest numbers of spontaneous germ cell deaths occur in control animals. Moreover, the rapid and highly specific response of germ cells to all the apoptogenic agents used in the present study indicate that apoptosis must be tightly regulated at these stages of the seminiferous epithelium. As a consequence, we propose that the disruption of apoptosis control might be an important determinant for idiopathic male infertility.
精子发生过程中自发的生殖细胞死亡是一个重要事件，并且生精上皮作为研究细胞凋亡的体内模型的实用性已得到证实。然而，睾丸对凋亡诱导剂的反应尚未得到分析。本研究旨在确定生殖细胞对凋亡诱导的敏感性，并提供睾丸对几种凋亡诱导剂反应的基线数据。通过原位DNA 3'-末端标记评估诱导的细胞凋亡，并在生精周期的每个阶段进行定量。根据形态学和定量标准确定每种试剂的最短反应时间。我们的结果显示，所有处理后生殖细胞死亡的发生率显著增加，主要发生在第I、XII和XIV阶段。这些特定阶段与对照动物中发生最多自发生殖细胞死亡的阶段一致。此外，生殖细胞对本研究中使用的所有凋亡诱导剂的快速且高度特异性反应表明，在生精上皮的这些阶段，细胞凋亡必须受到严格调控。因此，我们提出凋亡控制的破坏可能是特发性男性不育的一个重要决定因素。
