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Biology of Reproduction, Vol 54, 583-590, Copyright © 1996 by Society for the Study of Reproduction

ARTICLES

Endothelin-1 stimulates deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis and contraction in testicular peritubular myoid cells

V Santiemma, F Beligotti, M Magnanti, S Palleschi, L Silvestroni and A Fabbrini
Dipartimento di Fisiopatologia Medica, Universita' di Roma "La Sapienza", Italy.

In the testis, endothelin-1 (ET-1) is produced by Sertoli cells, and it has been proposed to be a paracrine factor participating in the regulation of tubular and interstitial function. The response of purified testicular peritubular myoid cells (TPMC) to ET-1 was investigated in the present study. TPMC expressed a single class of high-affinity receptors that were shown by competitive binding experiments with sarafotoxin-6c to belong to the ETA subtype. The binding of ET-1 to TPMC was followed by rapid internalization of the receptor-ligand complex. ET-1 induced a prompt rise in intracellular Ca2+ concentration that was blunted in Ca(2+)-free medium and in the presence of Mn2+ or of voltage-operated-calcium-channel (VOC) blockers, indicating that both Ca2+ mobilization from intracellular stores and extracellular Ca2+ influx were involved. Thymidine uptake was promoted by ET-1 in a time-dependent manner, and the use of cyclo[D-Asp-L-Pro-D- Val-L-Leu-D-Trp] (BQ123) reduced the incorporation of thymidine. Protein kinase C (PKC) inhibition (100 nM calphostin C) abolished the ET-1 mitogenic effect. ET-1 also promoted TPMC contraction, as evaluated in collagen lattices, in a dose-related manner, with the half- maximal response observed at 1 nM. As in the case of mitogenesis, BQ123 blunted ET-1-induced contraction. PKC inhibition abolished ET-1-induced contraction. These findings indicate that ET-1 promotes DNA synthesis and contraction of TPMC and that both effects are mediated by PKC; they suggest as well that ET-1 may have a physiological role in the interaction between Sertoli cells and TPMC.




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Copyright © 1996 by the Society for the Study of Reproduction.