The effects of DES on mouse gubernaculums testis cells may be mediated directly or indirectly by the LGR8 pathway
2016 Study Abstract
BACKGROUND
Hormonal effects on the gubernaculum can affect testicular descent. Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is a nonsteroidal synthetic estrogen that disrupts the outgrowth of gubernaculums, leading to testis maldescent. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The gubernaculum were removed from 3-day-old mice and cultured. The subcultured cells were randomly divided into a normal control group and experimental groups. The DES groups were administered 10 μg/ml, 1 μg/ml, 0.1 μg/ml, 0.01 μg/ml of diethylstilbestrol dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) respectively. The cell morphology was observed under an inverted microscope, and leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 8 (LGR8) was localized by immunofluorescence. The expressions of LGR8 gene and protein in gubernaculum cells were quantified by RT-PCR and Flow Cytometer respectively.
RESULTS
DES treatment converted cells from a normal fibroblast-like morphology into a more refractile, spindle-shaped morphology or irregular elliptical shapes along with cytoplasmic shrinkage. LGR8 was expressed in the cytoplasmic membrane, DES dose-dependently downregulated LGR8 expression at low doses (≤1.0 μg/ml), but upregulated LGR8 at high doses (10 μg/ml) at both the mRNA and protein levels.
CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that DES causes testicular maldescent by altering the LGR8 pathway in mouse gubernaculum testis cells.
Sources and more information
- Full study (free access) Diethylstilbestrol Regulates the Expression of LGR8 in Mouse Gubernaculum Testis Cells, Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research, NCBI PubMed PMC4750751, 2016 Feb.
- Cellular morphology under an inverted microscope featured image credit /PMC4750751/figure/f1-medscimonit-22-416.
DES DIETHYLSTILBESTROL RESOURCES
- Source DES and epigenetics studies.
- Diethylstilbestrol DES studies by topics.