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Germ cell-intrinsic requirement for the homeodomain transcription factor PKnox1/Prep1 in adult spermatogenesis

PKnox1 (also known as Prep1) belongs to the TALE family of homeodomain transcription factors that are critical for regulating growth and differentiation during embryonic and postnatal development in vertebrates. We demonstrate here that PKnox1 is required for adult spermatogenesis in a germ cell-int...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kawai, Yasuhiro, Oda, Akihisa, Kanai, Yoshiakira, Goitsuka, Ryo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5749842/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29293683
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190702
Descripción
Sumario:PKnox1 (also known as Prep1) belongs to the TALE family of homeodomain transcription factors that are critical for regulating growth and differentiation during embryonic and postnatal development in vertebrates. We demonstrate here that PKnox1 is required for adult spermatogenesis in a germ cell-intrinsic manner. Tamoxifen-mediated PKnox1 loss in the adult testes, as well as its germ cell-specific ablation, causes testis hypotrophy with germ cell apoptosis and, as a consequence, compromised spermatogenesis. In PKnox1-deficient testes, spermatogenesis was arrested at the c-Kit(+) spermatogonia stage, with a complete loss of the meiotic spermatocytes, and was accompanied by compromised differentiation of the c-Kit(+) spermatogonia. Taken together, these results indicate that PKnox1 is a critical regulator of maintenance and subsequent differentiation of the c-Kit(+) stage of spermatogonia in the adult testes.