Biology of Reproduction, Vol 57, 1467-1477, Copyright © 1997 by Society for the Study of Reproduction

ARTICLES

A comparison of the effects of testicular maturation and aging on the stage-specific expression of CP-2/cathepsin L messenger ribonucleic acid by Sertoli cells of the Brown Norway rat

GH Kim and WW Wright
Department of Population Dynamics, School of Hygiene and Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.

We have examined the effects of maturation and aging on expression of cyclic protein-2 (CP-2)/cathepsin L mRNA by rat Sertoli cells. During maturation (25-68 days of age) there was a significant, 7.6-fold increase in CP-2/cathepsin L mRNA. There was a significant, 2.9-fold increase in SGP-2 mRNA during the same period. In situ hybridization analysis demonstrated that stage-specific expression of CP-2/cathepsin L mRNA developed between 30 and 35 days. By 64 days of age, this transcript was only detectable in Sertoli cells within stage VI-VII tubules. Northern blot analysis of 23-mo-old testes revealed statistically significant decreases in total testis contents of CP- 2/cathepsin L and SGP-2 mRNAs (4- and 3-fold, respectively) in testes that lacked germ cells but not in aged testes with a full complement of germ cells. In situ hybridization analysis revealed high amounts of CP- 2/cathepsin L mRNA in all aged tubules that were losing germ cells via apoptosis, regardless of the stage of the cycle. Immunocytochemical analysis demonstrated that in these aged, regressing tubules, CP- 2/cathepsin L protein became concentrated in dying or dead germ cells.

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