title: Urban fine particulate matter exposure causes male reproductive injury through destroying blood-testis barrier (BTB) integrity.
abstract: Blood-testis barrier (BTB) provides a suitable microenvironment for germ cells that is required for spermatogenesis. Exposure to particulate matter (PM) is recognized to occasion male reproductive impairment, but the mechanism of which remains unclear. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used to establish animal models with PM2.5exposure concentration of 0, 10, and 20mg/kg.b.w. once a day for four weeks. Success rate of mating, sperm quality, epididymal morphology, expressions of spermatogenesis markers, superoxide dismutases (SOD) activity and expression in testicular tissues, and expressions of BTB junction proteins were detected. In addition, in vitro experiments were also performed. After PM2.5treatment, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and apoptosis of Sertoli cells were analyzed. Our results indicated that after PM2.5exposure male rats presented inferior uberty and sperm quality, with decreased expressions of spermatogenesis markers, escalated SOD activity and expression levels, and reduced expressions of tight junction, adherens junction, and gap junction proteins in testicular tissues. Meantime, PM2.5-treated Sertoli cells displayed increased SOD production and apoptosis. PM2.5exposure engenders male reproductive function injury through breaking BTB integrity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Xi-Ning
authors.initials: XN
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Lian-Ju
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Sheng-de
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Geng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Yang-Cai
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Xiang-Liang
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Dong-Yao
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Chun-Lan
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Mang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Da-Wei
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology Surgery, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation base of Child development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, 400014, China. Electronic address: ghwei1963@163.com.
authors.forename: Guang-Hui
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001814:Blood-Testis Barrier / Q000187:drug effects*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004822:Epididymis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008297:Male; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012708:Sertoli Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Blood-testis barrier; Fine particulate matter; Male infertility; Testis