scholarly journals Spermatogonia Differentiation Requires Retinoic Acid Receptor γ

Endocrinology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 153 (1) ◽  
pp. 438-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurore Gely-Pernot ◽  
Mathilde Raverdeau ◽  
Catherine Célébi ◽  
Christine Dennefeld ◽  
Betty Feret ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retinoic Acid ◽  
Vitamin A ◽  
Nuclear Receptor ◽  
Sertoli Cells ◽  
Retinoic Acid Receptor ◽  
Vitamin A Deficiency ◽  
Seminiferous Tubules ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Differentiation Markers ◽  
Selective Agonists

Vitamin A is instrumental to mammalian reproduction. Its metabolite, retinoic acid (RA), acts in a hormone-like manner through binding to and activating three nuclear receptor isotypes, RA receptor (RAR)α (RARA), RARβ, and RARγ (RARG). Here, we show that 1) RARG is expressed by A aligned (Aal) spermatogonia, as well as during the transition from Aal to A1 spermatogonia, which is known to require RA; and 2) ablation of Rarg, either in the whole mouse or specifically in spermatogonia, does not affect meiosis and spermiogenesis but impairs the Aal to A1 transition in the course of some of the seminiferous epithelium cycles. Upon ageing, this phenomenon yields seminiferous tubules containing only spermatogonia and Sertoli cells. Altogether, our findings indicate that RARG cell-autonomously transduces, in undifferentiated spermatogonia of adult testes, a RA signal critical for spermatogenesis. During the prepubertal spermatogenic wave, the loss of RARG function can however be compensated by RARA, as indicated by the normal timing of appearance of meiotic cells in Rarg-null testes. Accordingly, RARG- and RARA-selective agonists are both able to stimulate Stra8 expression in wild-type prepubertal testes. Interestingly, inactivation of Rarg does not impair expression of the spermatogonia differentiation markers Kit and Stra8, contrary to vitamin A deficiency. This latter observation supports the notion that the RA-signaling pathway previously shown to operate in Sertoli cells also participates in spermatogonia differentiation.

scholarly journals Retinoic Acid Metabolism and Signaling Pathways in the Adult and Developing Mouse Testis

Endocrinology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 147 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadège Vernet ◽  
Christine Dennefeld ◽  
Cécile Rochette-Egly ◽  
Mustapha Oulad-Abdelghani ◽  
Pierre Chambon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cytochrome P450 ◽  
Retinoic Acid ◽  
Vitamin A ◽  
Signaling Pathways ◽  
Sertoli Cells ◽  
Vitamin A Deficiency ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Mouse Testis ◽  
Cytochrome P450 Hydroxylase ◽  
Lecithin:Retinol Acyltransferase

As a first step in investigating the role of retinoic acid (RA) in mouse testis, we analyzed the distribution pattern of the enzymes involved in vitamin A storage (lecithin:retinol acyltransferase), RA synthesis (β-carotene 15,15′-monoxygenase and retinaldehyde dehydrogenases) and RA degradation (cytochrome P450 hydroxylases) as well as those of all isotypes of receptors transducing the RA signal [RA receptors (RARs) and rexinoid receptors (RXRs)]. Our data indicate that in adult testis 1) cytochrome P450 hydroxylase enzymes may generate in peritubular myoid cells a catabolic barrier that prevents circulating RA and RA synthesized by Leydig cells to enter the seminiferous epithelium; 2) the compartmentalization of RA synthesis within this epithelium may modulate, through paracrine mechanisms, the coupling between spermatogonia proliferation and spermatogenesis; 3) retinyl esters synthesized in round spermatids by lecithin:retinol acyltransferase may be transferred and stored in Sertoli cells, in the form of adipose differentiation-related protein-coated lipid droplets. We also show that RARα and RXRβ are confined to Sertoli cells, whereas RARγ is expressed in spermatogonia and RARβ, RXRα, and RXRγ are colocalized in step 7–8 spermatids. Correlating these expression patterns with the pathological phenotypes generated in response to RAR and RXR mutations and to postnatal vitamin A deficiency suggests that spermiation requires RXRβ/RARα heterodimers in Sertoli cells, whereas spermatogonia proliferation involves, independently of RXR, two distinct RAR-mediated signaling pathways in both Sertoli cells and spermatogonia. Our data also suggest that the involvement of RA in testis development starts when primary spermatogonia first appear.

Complex regulation of TGF beta expression by retinoic acid in the vitamin A-deficient rat

Development ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 111 (4) ◽  
pp. 1081-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.B. Glick ◽  
B.K. McCune ◽  
N. Abdulkarem ◽  
K.C. Flanders ◽  
J.A. Lumadue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retinoic Acid ◽  
Vitamin A ◽  
Vitamin A Deficiency ◽  
Alveolar Epithelium ◽  
Tgf Beta ◽  
Basal Expression ◽  
Beta 2 ◽  
Complex Regulation ◽  
First Time

We report the results of a histochemical study, using polyclonal antipeptide antibodies to the different TGF beta isoforms, which demonstrates that retinoic acid regulates the expression of TGF beta 2 in the vitamin A-deficient rat. Basal expression of TGF beta 2 diminished under conditions of vitamin A deficiency. Treatment with retinoic acid caused a rapid and transient induction of TGF beta 2 and TGF beta 3 in the epidermis, tracheobronchial and alveolar epithelium, and intestinal mucosa. Induction of TGF beta 1 expression was also observed in the epidermis. In contrast to these epithelia, expression of the three TGF beta isoforms increased in vaginal epithelium during vitamin A deficiency, and decreased following systemic administration of retinoic acid. Our results show for the first time the widespread regulation of TGF beta expression by retinoic acid in vivo, and suggest a possible mechanism by which retinoics regulate the functions of both normal and pre-neoplastic epithelia.

AM580, a stable benzoic derivative of retinoic acid, has powerful and selective cyto-differentiating effects on acute promyelocytic leukemia cells

Blood ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 1520-1531 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Gianni ◽  
M Li Calzi ◽  
M Terao ◽  
G Guiso ◽  
S Caccia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retinoic Acid ◽  
Cell Line ◽  
Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia ◽  
Retinoic Acid Receptor ◽  
Chromosomal Translocation ◽  
Promyelocytic Leukemia ◽  
Myelogenous Leukemia ◽  
Leukemic Cells ◽  
Stable Phase ◽  
Differentiation Markers

All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is successfully used in the cyto- differentiating treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Paradoxically, APL cells express PML-RAR, an aberrant form of the retinoic acid receptor type alpha (RAR alpha) derived from the leukemia- specific t(15;17) chromosomal translocation. We show here that AM580, a stable retinobenzoic derivative originally synthesized as a RAR alpha agonist, is a powerful inducer of granulocytic maturation in NB4, an APL-derived cell line, and in freshly isolated APL blasts. After treatment of APL cells with AM580 either alone or in combination with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), the compound induces granulocytic maturation, as assessed by determination of the levels of leukocyte alkaline phosphatase, CD11b, CD33, and G-CSF receptor mRNA, at concentrations that are 10- to 100-fold lower than those of ATRA necessary to produce similar effects. By contrast, AM580 is not effective as ATRA in modulating the expression of these differentiation markers in the HL-60 cell line and in freshly isolated granulocytes obtained from the peripheral blood of chronic myelogenous leukemia patients during the stable phase of the disease. In NB4 cells, two other synthetic nonselective RAR ligands are capable of inducing LAP as much as AM580, whereas RAR beta- or RAR gamma-specific ligands are totally ineffective. These results show that AM580 is more powerful than ATRA in modulating the expression of differentiation antigens only in cells in which PML-RAR is present. Binding experiments, using COS-7 cells transiently transfected with PML-RAR and the normal RAR alpha, show that AM580 has a lower affinity than ATRA for both receptors. However, in the presence of PML-RAR, the synthetic retinoid is a much better transactivator of retinoic acid-responsive element-containing promoters than the natural retinoid, whereas, in the presence of RAR alpha, AM580 and ATRA have similar activity. This may explain the strong cyto-differentiating potential of AM580 in PML-RAR-containing leukemic cells.

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