title: Role of retinoic acid receptor (RAR) signaling in post-natal male germ cell differentiation.
abstract: All-trans retinoic acid (atRA), the active metabolite of vitamin A, plays critical functions in spermatogenesis, a complex, highly organized and regulated process comprising three phases. During the proliferative phase, undifferentiated spermatogonia divide to maintain a stem cell population and expand a progenitor cell population, of which a fraction enters the differentiation pathway yielding primary spermatocytes. During the meiotic phase, primary spermatocytes undergo recombination, segregation and reduction by half of chromosomes to produce haploid round spermatids. During the morphogenetic, post-meiotic phase, spermatids differentiate and elongate to ultimately form spermatozoa. Studies performed during the past 20 years have significantly improved our knowledge on the location of the proteins transducing the atRA signal, on the target genes of atRA and on its mechanism of action. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Nuclear receptors in animal development.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Department of Functional Genomics and Cancer, 1 rue Laurent Fries, BP10142, F-67404, Illkirch, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR7104, France; Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U964, France; Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA), France; Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg (HUS), France.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mark
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Department of Functional Genomics and Cancer, 1 rue Laurent Fries, BP10142, F-67404, Illkirch, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR7104, France; Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U964, France; Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA), France; Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg (HUS), France.
authors.forename: Marius
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Teletin
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Department of Functional Genomics and Cancer, 1 rue Laurent Fries, BP10142, F-67404, Illkirch, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR7104, France; Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U964, France; Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA), France.
authors.forename: Nadège
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vernet
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), Department of Functional Genomics and Cancer, 1 rue Laurent Fries, BP10142, F-67404, Illkirch, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR7104, France; Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U964, France; Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA), France. Electronic address: norbert@igbmc.fr.
authors.forename: Norbert B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Ghyselinck
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid / Q000502:physiology*; D012708:Sertoli Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013093:Spermatogonia / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid; D014212:Tretinoin
keywords: Infertility; Meiosis; Nuclear receptor; Rexinoid; Sertoli cell; Testis