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Prepubertal rat Sertoli cells secrete a mitogenic factor(s) that stimulates germ and somatic cell proliferation
L S Kancheva1, Y S Martinova, V D Georgiev
1Institute of Cell Biology and Morphology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia.
Insights
Sertoli cell-conditioned media (SCCM) from young rats stimulates somatic and germ cell proliferation. Different factors in SCCM show age-dependent mitogenic activity, influencing cell growth.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Biology
- Cell Biology
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Sertoli cells play a crucial role in regulating spermatogenesis.
- Understanding factors influencing germ cell proliferation is vital for reproductive health research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mitogenic effects of Sertoli cell-conditioned media (SCCM) on somatic and germ cells.
- To determine the age-dependent and cell-specific activity of factors within SCCM.
Main Methods:
- Isolation of Sertoli cells from 6- and 12-day-old rats.
- Preparation of SCCM (SCCM-6 and SCCM-12).
- Assaying the proliferation of BALB/c 3T3 fibroblasts and rat prespermatogonia in response to SCCM.
Main Results:
- SCCM demonstrated dose-dependent and age-related stimulation of cell proliferation.
- SCCM-12 significantly increased fibroblast proliferation but had less effect on germ cells.
- SCCM-6 showed a more specific mitogenic effect on prespermatogonia.
- The mitogenic factor(s) are heat- and trypsin-sensitive proteins with molecular weight >8000.
Conclusions:
- Prepubertal rat SCCM contains multiple mitogens secreted in an age-dependent manner.
- These mitogens exhibit differential effects on germ and somatic cell proliferation.
- Findings suggest specific factors regulate germ cell mitosis during early development.
Abstract:
Sertoli cells were isolated from prepubertal 6- and 12-day-old rats. The Sertoli cell-conditioned media (SCCM-6 and SCCM-12) can markedly stimulate the proliferation of somatic cells and quiescent rat prespermatogonia in a dose-dependent and an age-related manner. SCCM-12 stimulated cell proliferation of BALB/c 3T3 fibroblasts up to 7-fold over control values, but did not stimulate to the same degree the germ cell mitotic activity. SCCM-6 stimulated proliferation of prespermatogonia up to 5-10-fold over controls. The mitogenic factor(s) in SCCM-6 appears to be more specific to prespermatogonia than to somatic cells which is consistent with the in vivo stimulation of mitosis in germ cells 5-6 days after birth and with the action of 'mitosis inducing substance'. The mitogenic factor(s) appears to be protein with a molecular weight over 8000 and sensitive to heat and trypsin treatment. These results suggest that the different mitogenicity of prepubertal rat SCCM on germ and somatic cells may be due to secretion of multiple mitogens by Sertoli cells in an age-dependent manner.