Effect of age and busulphan treatment on the hsp70 gene-related transcript level in rat testes

Northern blot analysis was used to determine the expression pattern of a testis-specific, heat shock gene (hsp70)-related transcript (hst70 RNA) in rats during sexual maturation, following administration of busulphan and in aged rats with progressive tubular degeneration. The level of the hst70 RNA in testes of rats aged 4, 7, 12, 19, 21 or 24 months decreased gradually with age. In the atrophic testes of old rats with tubules depleted of germ cells, the hst70 transcript was undetectable. Transient arrest of spermatogenesis in rats aged 2 months following injection of a single dose of busulphan (10 mg/kg) resulted in a parallel but transient decrease in the transcript level to undetectable values, followed by its reappearance after resumption of spermatogenesis. The transcript was absent from testes containing tubules depleted of spermatocytes and spermatids and reappeared when a new generation of round spermatids repopulated the seminiferous tubules. Possible expression of the hst70 gene prior to the formation of early spermatids is discussed.