Spermatogenesis is a highly regulated process of germ cell proliferation and differentiation, starting from spermatogonia to spermatocytes and giving rise to spermatids, the future spermatozoa. In addition to endocrine regulation, testicular cell-cell interactions are essential for spermatogenesis. This precise control is mediated through paracrine/autocrine pathways, direct intercellular contacts and through intercellular communication channels, consisting of gap junctions and their constitutive proteins, the connexins. Gap junctions are localized between adjacent Leydig cells, between Sertoli cells and between Sertoli cells and specific germ cells. This review focuses on the distribution of connexins within the seminiferous epithelium, their participation in gap junction channel formation, the control of their expression and the physiological relevance of these junctions in both the Sertoli-Sertoli cell functional synchronization and the Sertoli-germ cell dialogue. In this review, we also discuss the potential implication of disrupted connexin in testis cancer, since impaired expression of connexin has been described as a typical feature of tumoral proliferation.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2871914 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2009.0114 | DOI Listing |
J Assist Reprod Genet
January 2025
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, Via Vienna 2, Sassari, Italy.
Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of single versus group culture strategies for cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) derived from early antral follicles (EAFs), with the goal of optimizing culture conditions to increase oocyte availability for assisted reproductive technologies.
Methods: COCs isolated from EAFs (350-450 µm) from sheep ovaries were cultured in TCM199 medium supplemented with 0.15 µg/mL Zn as zinc sulfate, 10 IU/mL FSH, 10 ng/mL estradiol, 50 ng/mL testosterone, 50 ng/mL progesterone, and 5 µM Cilostamide.
Pharmaceutics
January 2025
Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of Mostar, 88000 Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Background: This is a novel rat study using native peptide therapy, focused on reversing quadriceps muscle-to-bone detachment to reattachment and stable gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 per-oral therapy for shared muscle healing and function restoration.
Methods: Pharmacotherapy recovering various muscle, tendon, ligament, and bone lesions, and severed junctions (i.e.
Micromachines (Basel)
January 2025
Power Solutions Group, Onsemi, Scottsdale, AZ 85250, USA.
Trench MOS Barrier Schottky (TMBS) rectifiers offer superior static and dynamic electrical characteristics when compared with planar Schottky rectifiers for a given active die size. The unique structure of TMBS devices allows for efficient manipulation of the electric field, enabling higher doping concentrations in the drift region and thus achieving a lower forward voltage drop (VF) and reduced leakage current (IR) while maintaining high breakdown voltage (BV). While the use of trenches to push electric fields away from the mesa surface is a widely employed concept for vertical power devices, a significant gap exists in the analytical modeling of this effect, with most prior studies relying heavily on computationally intensive numerical simulations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Nano
January 2025
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chiral Molecule and Drug Discovery, Sun Yat-Sen University, University Town, Guangzhou 510006, China.
Mitochondrial transplantation is a significant therapeutic approach for addressing mitochondrial dysfunction in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), yet it is limited by rapid mitochondrial deactivation and low transfer efficiency. Here, high-quality mitochondria microfactories (HQ-Mitofactories) were constructed by anchoring Prussian blue nanoenzymes onto mesenchymal stem cells for effective mitochondrial transplantation to treat paralysis from SCI. Notably, the results demonstrated that HQ-Mitofactories could continuously produce vitality-boosting mitochondria with highly interconnected and elongated network structures under oxidative stress by scavenging excessive ROS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurotherapeutics
January 2025
Departamento de Medicina Intensiva, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile. Electronic address:
Acute brain injuries (ABIs) encompass a broad spectrum of primary injuries such as ischemia, hypoxia, trauma, and hemorrhage that converge into secondary injury where some mechanisms show common determinants. In this regard, astroglial connexin and pannexin channels have been shown to play an important role. These channels are transmembrane proteins sharing similar topology and form gateways between adjacent cells named gap junctions (GJs) and pores into unopposed membranes named hemichannels (HCs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!