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Androgen regulation of spermatogenesis
Published in C. Yan Cheng, Spermatogenesis, 2018
Testosterone is required for maintaining the BTB that consists of numerous cellular junctions between Sertoli cells.3,4 The BTB is present near the basement membrane of the seminiferous tubule and separates the basal compartment that has access to the circulatory system from the luminal compartment that is dependent on the Sertoli cell to provide nutrients and growth factors. All germ cell development beyond the leptotene stage of meiosis occurs in the specialized environment beyond the BTB. Spermatogenesis in rodents is halted after structural disruption of the BTB.82,83 However, the extent to which BTB disruptions affect fertility in men is less well understood.
The effects and molecular mechanism of heat stress on spermatogenesis and the mitigation measures
Published in Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine, 2022
Yuanyuan Gao, Chen Wang, Kaixian Wang, Chaofan He, Ke Hu, Meng Liang
Testes are made up of different types of cells, including germ cells and somatic cells. Germ cells are mainly divided into 5 types: spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs), spermatocyte, spermatid, Sertoli cells, and Leydig cells. Spermatogonium are the most susceptible, especially in the early meiosis of spermatogonium in leptotene stage, zygotene stage, pachytene stage, and the first spermatid stage (Yadav et al. 2018; Cai et al. 2021). Different germ cell types have different cellular responses to heat stress. Leydig cells are located in the interstitial part of the spermatic duct and are the main source of testosterone and other hormones. When Leydig cells are subjected to heat stress, hormone synthesis will be reduced and apoptosis of Leydig cells will be induced (Liu 2005; Tenorio et al. 2019; Zhou et al. 2019). Under heat stress, the function and morphology of Sertoli cells will be changed, and the close connection between germ cells and the blood-testis barrier will be destroyed, resulting in damage to the blood-testis barrier, affecting the phagocytosis of Sertoli cells and reducing the function of phagocytic germ cells (Escott et al. 2014; Silva et al. 2016). When the testis is stimulated by heat, it will delay the cell cycle and self-renewal of SSCs, inducing spermatocyte apoptosis and sperm DNA damage, decreased sperm count, and decreased sperm quality and activity (Cai et al. 2021).