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Localization of inhibin/activin subunits in the testis of adult nonhuman primates and men

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Abstract

The localization and distribution of inhibin/activin subunits was evaluated in the testes of three nonhuman primate species (Macaca fascicularis, M. mulatta, M. arctoides), of young (31 to 43 years) and old (60 to 85 years) men, and of men with disturbed or arrested spermatogenesis using immunohistochemical techniques (peroxidase-anti-peroxidase and alkaline-phosphatase/ anti-alkaline-phosphatase technique). Specific polyclonal (anti-porcine inhibin α-1-32 and anti-bovine activin A) and monoclonal (anti-human inhibin α-1-32 and anti-human activin βA-82-114) antisera were employed. Among all nonhuman primate species and in men, inhibin/activin subunits were present in the cytoplasm of Sertoli cells and Leydig cells but not in germ cells. No relationship could be established between the staining pattern for inhibin/activin subunits and the completeness or the stage of the spermatogenic process. The staining for the βA-subunit in Sertoli cells appeared more intense in the testes of old men compared with that of young men. The majority of Leydig cells contained either the α-subunit and βA-subunit or the βA-subunit alone. The signal for the βA-subunit was remarkably intense in normal and hyperplastic human Leydig cells. These observations demonstrate the presence of inhibin/activin subunits in Sertoli cells and Leydig cells of adult primates and raise the possibility that these subunits or their respective dimers (inhibin A/activin A) might subserve a paracrine/ autocrine role in the adult primate testis. Also, the possibility of specific differences in the α-1-32 subunit and the βA-82-114 subunit region among certain primate species arises from the observation that the monoclonal antisera failed to detect the respective antigens in M. fascicularis and M. mulatta.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Reproduktionsmedizin der Universität, Steinfurter Strasse 107, W-4400, Münster, Germany

    Monika K. Vliegen, Stefan Schlatt, Gerhard F. Weinbauer & Eberhard Nieschlag

  2. Institut für Anatomie der Universität, Münster, Germany

    Martin Bergmann

  3. School of Biology and Molecular Science, Oxford, UK

    Nigel P. Groome

Authors
  1. Monika K. Vliegen
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  2. Stefan Schlatt
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  3. Gerhard F. Weinbauer
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  4. Martin Bergmann
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  5. Nigel P. Groome
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  6. Eberhard Nieschlag
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Vliegen, M.K., Schlatt, S., Weinbauer, G.F. et al. Localization of inhibin/activin subunits in the testis of adult nonhuman primates and men. Cell Tissue Res 273, 261–268 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00312827

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00312827

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