title: Alanine and arginine rich domain containing protein, Aard, is directly regulated by androgen receptor in mouse Sertoli cells.
abstract: Alanine and arginine rich domain containing protein (Aard) is specifically expressed in Sertoli cells (SCs) of mouse testis and the expression increases in an age‑dependent manner. A number of previous studies have indicated that androgen and androgen receptor (AR) signaling pathways are particularly important for spermatogenesis in mouse SCs, however, the association between Aard and AR remain to be elucidated. The present study identified Aard as a gene that is directly regulated by AR in mouse SCs, which is important in spermatogenesis. The expression of AARD was significantly downregulated in the testes of Sertoli cell‑selective AR knockout mice compared with wild‑type mice as analyzed by western blotting and immunofluorescence analyses. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting indicated that AARD was predominantly expressed in adult mouse testis and its expression was increased in an age-dependent manner. In addition, AARD expression was upregulated by testosterone in primary SCs in vitro, which was confirmed by bioinformatics analysis and a dual‑luciferase reporter assay. Finally, chromatin immunoprecipitation and electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicated that the ligand‑bound AR activated Aard transcription via directly binding to the androgen‑responsive element of the Aard promoter. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to document that Aard is directly regulated by AR in mouse Sertoli cells.
authors.affiliation: First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Li-Wei
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.affiliation: Union Stem Cell & Gene Engineering Co., Ltd, Tianjin 300384, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yan-Hua
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300193, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Andrology, Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Science, Beijing 100091, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011944:Receptors, Androgen / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012708:Sertoli Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013091:Spermatogenesis; D013737:Testis / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D013739:Testosterone / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C522427:Aard protein, mouse; D011506:Proteins; D011944:Receptors, Androgen; D013739:Testosterone