Potency of Testicular Somatic Environment to Support Spermatogenesis in XX/Sry Transgenic Male Mice
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ABSTRACT: Sry is sufficient to induce testis formation and subsequent male development of internal and external genitalia in chromosomally female mice and humans. In XX sex-reversed males such as XX/Sry-transgenic (XX/Sry) mice, however, testicular germ cells always disappear soon after birth due to germ cell autonomous defects. Therefore, it remains unclear whether or not Sry alone is sufficient to induce a fully functional testicular soma capable of supporting complete spermatogenesis in the XX body. Here we demonstrated that the testicular somatic environment of XX/Sry males is defective in the later phases of spermatogenesis. Spermatogonial transplantation analyses using XX/Sry male mice revealed that donor XY spermatogonia are capable of proliferating, entering meiosis and differentiating into the round spermatid stage. XY donor-derived round spermatids, however, were frequently detached from the XX/Sry seminiferous epithelia and underwent cell death, thereby preventing further progress beyond the elongated spermatid stage. In contrast, immature XY seminiferous tubule segments transplanted under XX/Sry testis capsules clearly displayed proper differentiation into elongated spermatids in the transplanted XY donor tubules. Microarray analysis of seminiferous tubules isolated from XX/Sry testes confirmed missing expression of several Y-linked genes and alterations in the expression profile of genes associated with spermatogenesis. Therefore, our findings indicate dysfunction of the somatic tubule components, probably Sertoli cells, of XX/Sry testes, supporting our hypothesis that Sry alone is insufficient to induce a fully functional Sertoli cell in XX mice. Keywords: comparative genomic hybridization
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus
PROVIDER: GSE5319 | GEO | 2007/07/15
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA96325
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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