Reproduction Abstracts

A wide variety of genetic and environmental factors have been proposed to affect male gonadal development and function during fetal life with impacts on subsequent reproductive health. This includes genetic mutations that may result in disorders of sex development (DSD), and environmental exposures to agents such as plasticizers, synthetic oestrogens and analgesics. Much of the data on the specific effects of these genetic mutations and exposures on gonadal development and fun...

Germ stem cells in the testis reside in a unique microenvironment, known as the ‘niche’. In humans testicular germ cell cancer (TGCC) is thought to arise when the ‘niche’ fails to induce germ cell maturation. Gonocytes that fail to differentiate into spermatogonia during fetal life form pre-neoplastic carcinoma in-situ (CIS) cells. CIS cells then transform into an invasive tumour in adulthood. Despite the lack of an animal model of TGCC it may be p...

Introduction: Testicular germ cell cancer (TGCC) has been increasing in incidence over recent decades. We have previously shown that the precursor lesion for TGCC, carcinoma in situ (CIS) cells, have different phenotypes which determine proliferation rate. CIS which express only OCT4, a well-established marker for CIS, proliferate more that those expressing OCT4 and MAGE-A4 (differentiated germ cells marker). Gankyrin is an oncogene that interacts with MAGE-A4 and sup...

The past few decades have seen marked improvements in life expectancy following childhood cancer due, in part, to advances in chemotherapy. While these drugs are effective in treating malignant disease, one of the main adverse outcomes can be infertility. This is of particular concern for prepubertal boys, for whom there are not yet any established methods of fertility preservation. The objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of the effects of the widely-use...

Androgen receptor (AR) is expressed by testicular somatic cells including steroidogenic Leydig cells (LC). Its role in LC is ill defined, with hypotheses based on evidence from total androgen receptor knockout models implying that LC AR is responsible for final LC number, regulation of steroidogenic enzyme expression and LC maturation.To better define the role of AR in LC, we generated a mouse line with a LC specific ablation of AR (LCARKO) using the Cre...

The aging of western societies, and the associated increase in obesity, brings with it an increase in prevalence of disorders such as metabolic syndrome which are associated with reduced androgen levels in men. As Leydig cells are the source of androgens in the male, establishing the mechanisms which control Leydig cell development and function is crucial to our understanding of aging and male health. Sertoli cells regulate testicular fate in the differentiating gonad and are ...