Nicotine induced autophagy of Leydig cells rather than apoptosis is the major reason of the decrease of serum testosterone

The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology
Xianglong ZhaoZhongdong Qiao

Abstract

A new report has shown that nicotine exposure can decrease serum testosterone by apoptosis in Leydig cells; however, in our previous studies, we have almost never observed apoptosis there. The purpose of this study is to ensure whether apoptosis or autophagy in Leydig cells occurred. Our results confirmed again that the concentration of testosterone in the sera of nicotine-treated mice statistically decreased (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the data of single cell transcriptome indicated that the expression of autophagy-related genes was increased after nicotine exposure. Likewise, chemical and immune-histological staining demonstrated that autophagy of the Leydig cells increased after nicotine treatment rather than apoptosis. Apoptosis mainly exists in spermatids. Further, the expression of autophagy-related genes, such as Beclin1 and LC3, were up-regulated after nicotine exposure (P < 0.05). Additionally, the data of transmission electron microscopy showed more autophagosomes in the Leydig cells of the nicotine-exposed groups than the cells of the control groups. Moreover, immunofluorescent staining of LC3 in the TM3 Leydig cell line indicated that rapamycin and nicotine exposure up-regulates the autophagy phenotype/process and down...Continue Reading

Citations

May 12, 2019·Biology of Reproduction·Shinnosuke SuzukiBrian P Hermann
Jun 17, 2020·Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry·Yue-Bao LinJiong-Hua Huang
Jun 30, 2021·Arhiv za higijenu rada i toksikologiju·Tihana MarićAnna Aghayanian
Dec 31, 2021·Human Reproduction Update·Mei WangYuan Zhen Zhang

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