Effects of acid sphingomyelinase deficiency on male germ cell development and programmed cell death

Biology of Reproduction
Marjut OtalaLeo Dunkel

Abstract

Deficiency of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM), an enzyme responsible for producing a pro-apoptotic second messenger ceramide, has previously been shown to promote the survival of fetal mouse oocytes in vivo and to protect oocytes from chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in vitro. Here we investigated the effects of ASM deficiency on testicular germ cell development and on the ability of germ cells to undergo apoptosis. At the age of 20 weeks, ASM knock-out (ASMKO) sperm concentrations were comparable with wild-type (WT) sperm concentrations, whereas sperm motility was seriously affected. ASMKO testes contained significantly elevated levels of sphingomyelin at the age of 8 weeks as detected by high-performance, thin-layer chromatography. Electron microscopy revealed that the testes started to accumulate pathological vesicles in Sertoli cells and in the interstitium at the age of 21 days. Irradiation of WT and ASMKO mice did not elevate intratesticular ceramide levels at 16 h after irradiation. In situ end labeling of apoptotic cells also showed a similar degree of cell death in both groups. After a 21-day recovery period, the numbers of primary spermatocytes and spermatogonia at G2 as well as spermatids were essentially the same in the W...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jan 18, 2006·Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta·Claudine TardyNathalie Andrieu-Abadie
Aug 9, 2015·Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta·Shih Wei WangVincent Duronio
Jun 26, 2008·Journal of Lipid Research·Douglas W PetcoffBradley J Stith

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
genotyping
protein assay
flow cytometry

Software Mentioned

CellQuest Pro
Gel plot
Scion Image

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Apoptosis

Apoptosis is a specific process that leads to programmed cell death through the activation of an evolutionary conserved intracellular pathway leading to pathognomic cellular changes distinct from cellular necrosis