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Up-regulation of CD95 (Apo-1/Fas) is associated with spermatocyte apoptosis during the first round of spermatogenesis in the rat

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Abstract

Apoptosis plays a major role in controlling both the rate of sperm production and chromosomal abnormalities in adult male testes. However, little is known on the mechanisms controlling induction and execution of apoptosis under physiological conditions. In this work we have uncovered a major role for the cell death receptor Fas in both the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways in normal germ cell apoptosis. We show here that Fas levels increased significantly in a group of germ cell in 25 d old rats, which were identified as spermatocytes and only a few spermatogonia. In addition, we show that isolated spermatocytes expressing high levels of Fas display activation of caspase-8, -9, -3, -6 and -2, as well as increased levels of intracellular calcium and decreased pH, which coincides with stabilization of p53, and transcriptional activation of PUMA and Fas. Therefore, our data strongly suggests that transcriptional up regulation of Fas could predispose a group of spermatocytes to Fas ligand triggering apoptosis by the extrinsic and intrinsic pathway.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financed by a grant from FONDECYT (1040800). C.L and I.A. are PhD fellows from the National Commission for Scientific Research and Technology (FONDECYT 1040800). We thank Mrs Connie Mefalle for her excellent assistance in English grammar.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciencias Fisiológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Alameda, 340, Santiago, Chile

    Carlos Lizama & Ricardo D. Moreno

  2. Millennium Nucleus for Developmental Biology, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile

    Carlos Lizama & Ricardo D. Moreno

  3. Instituto de Química, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile

    Iván Alfaro & Juan G. Reyes

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  1. Carlos Lizama
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  2. Iván Alfaro
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  4. Ricardo D. Moreno
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Correspondence to Ricardo D. Moreno.

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Lizama, C., Alfaro, I., Reyes, J.G. et al. Up-regulation of CD95 (Apo-1/Fas) is associated with spermatocyte apoptosis during the first round of spermatogenesis in the rat. Apoptosis 12, 499–512 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10495-006-0012-1

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