Disease relevance of Spermatogenesis

• We find here that Csnk2a2 is preferentially expressed in late stages of spermatogenesis, and male mice in which Csnk2a2 has been disrupted are infertile, with oligospermia and globozoospermia ('round-headed' spermatozoa) [1].
• In mouse and man, deletions of specific regions of the Y chromosome have been linked to early failure of spermatogenesis and consequent sterility; the Y chromosomal gene(s) with this essential early role in spermatogenesis have not been identified [2].
• A gene related to Caenorhabditis elegans spermatogenesis factor fer-1 is mutated in limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B [3].
• Chronic renal failure interferes with testicular steroid production and spermatogenesis [4].
• We report here that mice homozygous for a germline mutation in A-myb develop to term but show defects in growth after birth and male infertility due to a block in spermatogenesis [5].

Psychiatry related information on Spermatogenesis

• There was a second period of Leydig cell secretory activity and increasing and peak plasma testosterone values in late winter/early summer which may be associated with copulation or the initiation of a new cycle of spermatogenesis [6].

High impact information on Spermatogenesis

• Mutation of Vps54 causes motor neuron disease and defective spermiogenesis in the wobbler mouse [7].
• Here we show that Cnot7(-/-) males are sterile owing to oligo-astheno-teratozoospermia, suggesting that Cnot7, a CCR4-associated transcriptional cofactor, is essential for spermatogenesis [8].
• Therefore, Cnot7 seems to function as a coregulator of Rxrb in testicular somatic cells and is thus involved in spermatogenesis [8].
• Here we show that Zfp145, encoding the transcriptional repressor Plzf, has a crucial role in spermatogenesis [9].
• Genes expressed before the Spo11 block are enriched on the X chromosome, whereas those expressed later in spermatogenesis are depleted [10].

Chemical compound and disease context of Spermatogenesis

• By contrast, similar treatment of mice aged 14 to 17 days, although slightly less effective in reducing glutathione levels, resulted frequently in death, hind-leg paralysis, or impaired spermatogenesis, but did not produce cataracts [11].
• Sterility of male mev/mev mice is associated with Leydig cell depletion in the testes, lowered testosterone levels, and impaired spermatogenesis [12].
• Affected males carry an additional X chromosome, which results in male hypogonadism, androgen deficiency, and impaired spermatogenesis [13].
• A year after he stopped taking estrogen, the patient gradually regained his potency, his prolactin level declined, the galactorrhea disappeared, and spermatogenesis returned to normal [14].
• HST-1/FGF-4 gene activation induces spermatogenesis and prevents adriamycin-induced testicular toxicity [15].

Biological context of Spermatogenesis

• We have previously suggested that the double-stranded (ds) RNA binding protein Prbp (encoded by the gene Tarbp2) functions as a translational regulator during mouse spermatogenesis [16].
• Both the unusual conservation of function in this processed PGK-2 gene and its tissue-specific expression in spermatogenesis are best explained as a compensatory response to the inactivation of the X-linked PGK-1 gene in spermatogenic cells before meiosis [17].
• This suggests either that new germline RB1 mutations arise more frequently during spermatogenesis than during oogenesis, or that imprinting in the early embryo affects chromosomal susceptibility to mutation [18].
• The results indicate that in mice Mos plays a role in the second meiotic metaphase arrest, but does not seem to be essential for the initiation of oocyte maturation, spermatogenesis or somatic cell cycle [19].
• The MH-3 gene may have functions in spermatogenesis and embryogenesis [20].

Anatomical context of Spermatogenesis

• In the male germ line, these methyl moieties are removed during spermatogenesis, and this occurs before the programmed reactivation of Xist in the testis [21].
• Male Camk4-/- mice are infertile with impairment of spermiogenesis in late elongating spermatids [22].
• Normal spermatozoa from androgen-resistant germ cells of chimaeric mice and the role of androgen in spermatogenesis [23].
• These results demonstrate that A-myb plays a critical role in spermatogenesis and mammary gland development [5].
• Transgenic loss-of-function and overexpression models now show that the dosage of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), produced by Sertoli cells, regulates cell fate decisions of undifferentiated spermatogonial cells that include the stem cells for spermatogenesis [24].

Associations of Spermatogenesis with chemical compounds

• The low amount of androgen receptor and the combination of high serum gonadotropins and plasma testosterone production rates suggest that the defective spermatogenesis in these infertile men was the consequence of androgen insensitivity [25].
• Reversible inhibition of testicular steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis by a potent gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist in normal men: an approach toward the development of a male contraceptive [26].
• Synergistic interaction of testosterone and oestradiol inhibits spermatogenesis in rats [27].
• The c-mos proto-oncogene encodes a 37-39K cytoplasmic serine/threonine kinase implicated in the meiotic maturation events during murine spermatogenesis and oogenesis [28].
• This review highlights the ability of exogenous estrogen exposure to perturb spermatogenesis and male fertility, as well as the emerging physiological role of estrogens in male fertility, suggesting that, in this local context, estrogenic substances should also be considered "male hormones."[29]

Gene context of Spermatogenesis

• Ccna1-/- males were sterile due to a block of spermatogenesis before the first meiotic division, whereas females were normal [30].
• To investigate the role of Camk4 in spermatogenesis, we have generated mice with a targeted deletion of the gene Camk4 [22].
• Motoneuron survival and spermiogenesis are severely compromised in the wobbler mouse, indicating that Vps54 has an essential role in these processes [7].
• Expression of the X-inactivation-associated gene XIST during spermatogenesis [31].
• Male Nhlh2-/- mice are microphallic, hypogonadal and infertile with alterations in circulating gonadotropins, a defect in spermatogenesis and a loss of instinctual male sexual behaviour [32].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Spermatogenesis

• In situ hybridization experiments showed that transcription of the P1 protamine mRNA starts in the middle of step 7 of spermiogenesis during substage VIIc [33].
• In this report, we have used polysome profile analysis, peptide quantitation, and immunocytochemistry to show that proenkephalin products are synthesized during spermatogenesis and are retained within spermatozoa of humans, hamsters, rats, and sheep [34].
• In the present study, a recently developed organ-culture system for eel testes was used to determine in vitro effects of various steroid hormones on spermatogenesis [35].
• PCR analysis of the Y chromosome long arm in azoospermic patients: evidence for a second locus required for spermatogenesis [36].
• Using Northern blots to analyse RNA isolated from the testes of mutant mice (Tfm/Y and Sxr/+) blocked at specific stages in spermatogenesis or RNA from sexually immature mice, 8 clones have been identified which correspond to RNAs expressed uniquely or at much higher levels in meiotic or post meiotic cells [37].

References