Autocrine and paracrine role of steroids during spermatogenesis: studies in Squalus acanthias and Necturus maculosus

Due to a cystic mode of spermatogenesis and zonal testes, the spiny dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias) and salamander (Necturus maculosus) are advantageous for studying the relationship between steroidogenesis and germ cell development. Direct analysis of steroidogenic enzymes and steroid receptors in staged tissue samples, together with light and electron microscopic observation, suggests that androgens and estrogens produced by Sertoli cells or Leydig cells immediately before or after spermiation serve as intratesticular regulators of events specific to premeiotic stages of spermatogenesis. These correlative data are consistent with limited observations in mammalian testis and provide a conceptual framework for direct testing of functional interactions between spermatogenesis and steroidogenesis in future studies.