Activation of extracellular signal-related kinases 1 and 2 in Sertoli cells in experimentally cryptorchid rhesus monkeys.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the spatiotemporal changes in the expression of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2), c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) in response to heat stress in the cryptorchid testis, and to investigate a possible relation to Sertoli cell dedifferentiation.


METHODS
Immunohistochemistry and western blot were used to examine the expression and activation of ERK1/2, p38 and JNK in the cryptorchid testis at various stages after experimental cryptorchidism.


RESULTS
The abdominal temperature did not obviously change the total ERK1/2 expression but significantly activated phospho-ERK1/2 in the Sertoli cells of the cryptorchid testis. Heat stress increased total JNK expression in the Sertoli cells of the cryptorchid testis but did not activate phospho-JNK. Neither total p38 nor phospho-p38 was induced by heat stress in the Sertoli cells of the cryptorchid testis. Changes in the spatiotemporal expression of cytokeratin 18 (CK18), a marker of immature or undifferentiated Sertoli cells, were induced in the cryptorchid testis in a pattern similar to the activation of ERK1/2.


CONCLUSIONS
The activation of ERK1/2 in the testis may be related to dedifferentiation of Sertoli cells under heat stress induced by experimental cryptorchidism.
Zhang
Xue-Sen
XS
State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 25 Bei Si Huan Road West, Beijing 100081, China.
Zhang
Zhi-Hong
ZH
Guo
Shu-Hua
SH
Yang
Wei
W
Zhang
Zhu-Qiang
ZQ
Yuan
Jin-Xiang
JX
Jin
Xuan
X
Hu
Zhao-Yuan
ZY
Liu
Yi-Xun
YX
D000818:Animals; D003456:Cryptorchidism / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D048670:MAP Kinase Kinase 4 / Q000378:metabolism; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D012611:Scrotum / Q000201:enzymology; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism
D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048670:MAP Kinase Kinase 4