Apoptosis during spermatogenesis: the thrill of being alive.
Emerging clues about the apoptotic molecular mechanisms operating during spermatogenesis indicate that the activation mechanism of executioner caspases may diverge from the traditional signaling operating in the immune system. Two issues are now been debated: (1) Whether the massive apoptosis of spermatogenic cells observed during the first spermatogenic wave represents a mechanism for ensuring the steady state sperm output in a given segment of a seminiferous tubule. (2) Whether apoptosis just represents a local remodeling process commanded by the Sertoli cell constraints to satisfy the differentiation needs of a juxtaposed cellular domain of spermatogonial, spermatocyte, and spermatid cohorts in the adult testis.
Kierszenbaum
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Department of Cell Biology and Anatomical Sciences, The City University of New York Medical School, New York 10031, USA. kier@med.cuny.edu
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D002470:Cell Survival; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000378:metabolism
D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D019014:fas Receptor; D020169:Caspases