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Highlights

Reproductive aging in females is associated with a progressive loss of ovarian function. Most studies of aging at the hypothalamo-pituitary level have focused on the concomitant loss of negative feedback from ovarian hormones; relatively few have looked at the hypothalamo-pituitary axis as causal. On p. 1091, Zheng et al. provide a careful examination of changes in anterior pituitary gene expression profiles during reproductive aging. Their findings suggest that anterior pituitary gene expression is selectively altered in middle-aged rats compared to young rats. These data are among the first to suggest that changes in pituitary function may contribute to reproductive decline and provide targets for unraveling the mechanisms underlying such changes.

Weiming Zheng, Mercedes Jimenez-Linan, Beverly S. Rubin, and Lisa M. Halvorson. Anterior Pituitary Gene Expression with Reproductive Aging in the Female Rat. Biol Reprod 2007; 76:1091–1102. Published online ahead of print 7 March 2007; DOI 10.1095/biolreprod.106.057877

The right connections for spermatogenesis.

While it is well known that it has been impossible to recapitulate mammalian spermatogenesis outside of the environment of the seminiferous tubule, it is less clear exactly how germ cells and Sertoli cells interact to bring about spermatogenic success. In an article on p. 1081 of this issue, Wakayama et al. shed light on the molecular players binding these two cell types. Beginning with the observation that male mice lacking IGSF4A, a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily expressed on the surface of spermatogenic cells, are infertile due to a decrease in the numbers of mature sperm, they hypothesized that a heterophilic binding partner for IGSF4A might be on the surface of Sertoli cells. An elegant series of experiments showed that PVR, the poliovirus receptor and another member of the immunoglobulin superfamily, is expressed on the Sertoli cell surface and binds to IGSF4A. These studies provide a robust foundation to determine the function and potential signaling from this interaction between germ cells and Sertoli cells.

Tomohiko Wakayama, Yoshimichi Sai, Akihiko Ito, Yukio Kato, Miho Kurobo, Yoshinori Murakami, Emi Nakashima, Akira Tsuji, Yukihiko Kitamura, and Shoichi Iseki. Heterophilic Binding of the Adhesion Molecules Poliovirus Receptor and Immunoglobulin Superfamily 4A in the Interaction Between Mouse Spermatogenic and Sertoli Cells. Biol Reprod 2007; 76:1081–1090. Published online ahead of print 21 February 2007; DOI 10.1095/biolreprod.106.058974

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