title: ADAM7 (a disintegrin and metalloprotease 7) mRNA is suppressed in mouse epididymis by neonatal exposure to Diethylstilbestrol.
abstract: We investigated whether neonatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) induces the alteration of mRNA expression in adult mouse epididymis, which plays an important role in sperm maturation. Using a cDNA subtraction method, we isolated 15 changed gene clones in neonatally DES-treated mouse epididymides, and we found a clone homologous with a disintegrin and metalloprotease (ADAM) 7 in the epididymis, as a suppressed gene, by means of neonatal DES treatment in 8-week-old mice. Indeed, it was confirmed by Northern blot analysis that the ADAM7 mRNA expression in the epididymis was at a lower level in neonatally DES-treated mice than in non-treated mice. Moreover, in situ hybridization analysis and real-time reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR) revealed that ADAM7 expression was markedly reduced in the corpus region of the epididymis of DES-treated mice as compared with non-treated mice. Our results suggest that neonatal exposure to DES leads to the suppression of ADAM7 expression in the epididymis in the long term. ADAM7 gene expression might be a biological marker of fetal or neonatal exposure to estrogenic compounds, including endocrine disruptors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioenvironmental Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8531, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuno
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sugimura
authors.forename: Kaiya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takano
authors.forename: Kyu-Bom
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shibayama
authors.forename: Taisen
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iguchi
authors.forename: Chisato
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Komiyama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D004054:Diethylstilbestrol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019483:Disintegrins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004822:Epididymis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D004968:Estrogens, Non-Steroidal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D013489:Suppression, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D019483:Disintegrins; D004968:Estrogens, Non-Steroidal; D004054:Diethylstilbestrol; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases