title: The expression profiles of fibroblast growth factor 9 and its receptors in developing mice testes.
abstract: An expressional lack of fibroblast growth factor 9 (FGF9) would cause male-to-female sex reversal in the mouse, implying the essential role of FGF9 in testicular organogenesis and maturation. However, the temporal expression of FGF9 and its receptors during testicular development remains elusive. In this study, immunohistochemistry was used to identify the localization of FGF9 and its receptors at different embryonic and postnatal stages in mice testes. Results showed that FGF9 continuously expressed in the testis during development. FGF9 had highest expression in the interstitial region at 17-18 d post coitum (dpc) and in the spermatocytes, spermatids and Leydig cell on postnatal days (pnd) 35-65. Regarding receptor expression, FGFR1 and FGFR4 were evenly expressed in the whole testis during the embryonic and postnatal stages. However, FGFR2 and FGFR3 were widely expressed during the embryonic testis development with higher FGFR2 expression in seminiferous tubules at 16-18 dpc and higher FGFR3 expression in interstitial region at 17-18 dpc. In postnatal stage, FGFR2 extensively expressed with higher expression at spermatids and Leydig cells on 35-65 pnd and FGFR3 widely expressed in the whole testis. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that FGF9 is correlated with the temporal expression profiles of FGFR2 and FGFR3 and possibly associated with testis development.
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Basic Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.
authors.forename: Meng-Shao
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Basic Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.|b Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy , College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chia-Yih
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Basic Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.|c Department of Physiology , College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shang-Hsun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Basic Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.|b Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy , College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chia-Ching
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Basic Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.|d Institute of Molecular Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.
authors.forename: H Sunny
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Basic Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.|c Department of Physiology , College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shaw-Jenq
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Basic Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.|c Department of Physiology , College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jih-Ing
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.affiliation: e Department of Anatomy , School of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University , Kaohsiung , Taiwan , Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yung-Chia
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Basic Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.|b Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy , College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University , Tainan , Taiwan , Republic of China.
authors.forename: Bu-Miin
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D051525:Fibroblast Growth Factor 9 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008297:Male; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051525:Fibroblast Growth Factor 9; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
keywords: FGF9; FGFR; Leydig cells; development; testis