Biol Reprod Keystone Symposia Conference on Frontiers in Reproductive Biology & Regulation of Fertility.
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

BOR - Papers in Press, published online ahead of print September 12, 2007.
Biol Reprod 2007, 10.1095/biolreprod.107.063735
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (Rapid PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
77/6/1037    most recent
biolreprod.107.063735v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Vaid, K. S
Right arrow Articles by Vogl, A. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Vaid, K. S
Right arrow Articles by Vogl, A. W.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Vaid, K. S
Right arrow Articles by Vogl, A. W.
Submitted June 27, 2007
Returned for revision July 12, 2007
Accepted August 31, 2007

Testis


A Kinesin is Present at Unique Sertoli/Spermatid Adherens Junctions in Rat and Mouse Testes

Kuljeet S Vaid , Julian A Guttman , Roshni R Singaraja , and A. Wayne Vogl *

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: vogl{at}interchange.ubc.ca.

Abstract
During spermatogenesis, spermatids undergo a "down and up" translocation event in the seminiferous epithelium. This event has been proposed to result from the movement of ectoplasmic specializations, formed in Sertoli cells at sites of adhesion to spermatids, along adjacent microtubule tracts. To test the hypothesis that a kinesin is associated with ectoplasmic specializations, we generated antibodies to conserved kinesin sequences, and detected kinesins on fixed frozen testis sections and fixed seminiferous epithelial fragments. The antibodies reacted with ectoplasmic specializations related to spermatids, in addition to reacting with other structures in the epithelium known to contain kinesins. At the electron microscopic level, the antibodies reacted with the cytoplasmic face of the endoplasmic reticulum component of ectoplasmic specializations. Based on mRNA transcript screens using mouse GeneChip arrays of testis and Sertoli cells, we identified KIF20 as a candidate kinesin at ectoplasmic specializations. Antibodies generated against a peptide sequence unique to this kinesin reacted at ectoplasmic specializations in testis sections and epithelial fragments, as well as with the endoplasmic reticulum component of ectoplasmic specializations when analyzed by electron microscopy. The antibody reacted on Western blots with full length KIF20. On Western blots of testis lysates, the antibody reacted with a protein that is not present in other tissues and which migrates at a higher molecular weight than that predicted for KIF20. Our results demonstrate that a kinesin is associated with apical ectoplasmic specializations in Sertoli cells and that the motor may be an isoform of KIF20.

Key words: Testis • Sertoli cells • Ectoplasmic specializations • Kinesin • Spermatid translocation


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Pharmacol. Rev.Home page
D. D. Mruk, B. Silvestrini, and C. Y. Cheng
Anchoring Junctions As Drug Targets: Role in Contraceptive Development
Pharmacol. Rev., June 1, 2008; 60(2): 146 - 180.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
Copyright © 2007 by the Society for the Study of Reproduction.