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BOR - Papers in Press, published online ahead of print March 21, 2007.
Biol Reprod 2007, 10.1095/biolreprod.106.059493
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Submitted December 13, 2006
Returned for revision January 20, 2007
Accepted March 8, 2007

Male Reproductive Tract


Differential Gene Expression among the Proximal Segments of the Rat Epididymis Is Lost after Efferent Duct Ligation

Terry T. Turner *, Daniel S. Johnston , Joshua N. Finger , and Scott A. Jelinsky

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ttt{at}virginia.edu.

Abstract
The epididymis has traditionally been divided in the caput, corpus, and cauda regions, which are further organized into intraregional segments. In the rat and mouse these segments have a high degree of transcriptional differentiation, and what has traditionally been called the initial segment of the rat epididymis actually consists of three transcriptionally different intraregional segments. The regulation of these segments is by endocrine, lumicrine, and paracrine factors whose relative importance remains a topic of investigation. In the present study 15 d, unilateral efferent duct ligation (EDL) was used to deprive ipsilateral rat epididymides of lumicrine regulation. Segments 1-4 of EDL epididymides and contralateral, sham-operated tissues were collected individually. Microarray analysis of gene expression was used to determine the effect of lumicrine factor deprivation on the transcriptome-wide gene expression of each segment studied. Over 11,000 genes were detected as being expressed in each of the 4 segments examined. Over 2,000 genes responded significantly to EDL in segment 1, a number that declined in each succeeding segment. Segments 1 and 2 of control tissues were the most transcriptionally different and the most affected by EDL. In the absence of lumicrine factors, the 4 segments regressed to a transcriptionally undifferentiated state, which was consistent with the less differentiated histology also seen after EDL. Interestingly, deprivation of lumicrine factors could stimulate an individual gene's expression in some segments yet suppress it in others. Such results reveal a higher complexity to the regulation of rat epididymal segments than heretofore appreciated.

Key words: Male Reproductive Tract • Epididymis • Gene regulation


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Home page
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T. T. Turner
De Graaf's Thread: The Human Epididymis
J Androl, May 1, 2008; 29(3): 237 - 250.
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