scholarly journals HC diet inhibited testosterone synthesis by activating endoplasmic reticulum stress in testicular Leydig cells

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 3140-3150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunxiao Yu ◽  
Fangjie Jiang ◽  
Meijie Zhang ◽  
Dandan Luo ◽  
Shanshan Shao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress ◽  
Leydig Cells ◽  
Testosterone Synthesis

scholarly journals Macroautophagy Involved in Testosterone Synthesis in Leydig Cells of Male Dairy Goats (Capra Hircus)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Chen ◽  
Kexin Chen ◽  
Fange Zhao ◽  
Yihan Guo ◽  
Yue Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Leydig Cells ◽  
Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Capra Hircus ◽  
Dairy Goats ◽  
Serum Luteinizing Hormone ◽  
Ultrastructural Characteristics ◽  
Autophagy Activity ◽  
Testosterone Synthesis

Abstract Background Testosterone is an important steroid hormone that is indispensable for male sexual development and the reproductive system. Leydig cells (LCs), where autophagy extremely active, reside in the testicular interstitium and are the major sites of testosterone production. However, the ultrastructural characteristics and the functional role of autophagy in LCs of livestock remain unknown. This study was to investigate the role of autophagy in LCs testosterone synthesis of dairy goats at juvenile, pubertal, and adult stages. Results In the present study, morphological results showed that the steroidogenic activity and ultrastructure of the LCs were altered with increasing age. Serum luteinizing hormone and testosterone levels were significantly elevated with sexual maturation. Organelles involved in testosterone synthesis, e.g., smooth endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, and lipid droplets, were abundantly distributed within the cytoplasm of LCs in adult testes. However, further studies demonstrated that selective autophagy (including lipophagy and mitophagy) did not participate in the synthesis of testosterone in LCs. In contrast, the autophagy activity was enhanced in the testes at puberty and adulthood compared to that at the juvenile stage. Moreover, a number of different autophagosomes, including phagophores and autolysosomes, were observed within the cytoplasm of LCs. Conclusions Together, our results reveal that macroautophagy is involved in testosterone synthesis mainly through degrading mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum in the LCs of dairy goats.

Smooth endoplasmic reticulum in perfusion and immersion-fixed Leydig cells

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 82-83
Author(s):  
R.T.F. Bernard ◽  
R.H.M. Cross
Keyword(s):  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Steroid Hormones ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscope ◽  
Leydig Cells ◽  
Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Random Mixture ◽  
Transmission Electron

Smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) is involved in the biosynthesis of steroid hormones, and changes in the organisation and abundance of this organelle are regularly used as indicators of changes in the level of steroidogenesis. SER is typically arranged as a meshwork of anastomosing tubules which, with the transmission electron microscope, appear as a random mixture of cross, oblique and longitudinal sections. Less commonly the SER appears as swollen vesicles and it is generally suggested that this is an artefact caused during immersion fixation or during immersion of poorly-perfused tissue.During a previous study of the Leydig cells of a seasonally reproducing bat, in which tissue was fixed by immersion, we noted that tubular SER and vesicular SER often occured in adjacent cells and sometimes in the same cell, and that the abundance of the two types of SER changed seasonally. We came to doubt the widelyheld dogma that vesicular SER was an artefact of immersion fixation and set out to test the hypothesis that the method of fixation does not modify the ultrastructure of the SER.

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