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Chemotherapy does not affect the development of inter-Sertoli junctions in childhood leukaemia
Insights
Chemotherapy did not impact inter-Sertoli junctions in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Tight junction formation begins before puberty, with increasing complexity as testicular tubules mature.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Biology
- Cell Biology
- Pediatric Oncology
Background:
- Inter-Sertoli junctions are crucial for testicular development and function.
- Understanding junction maturation in prepubertal boys is important, especially after medical treatments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the development of inter-Sertoli junctions in prepubertal boys treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
- To assess the impact of chemotherapy on Sertoli cell junction formation.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of testicular biopsies from children (5-12 years) in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
- Utilized conventional sections and freeze-fracture electron microscopy techniques.
- Investigated junction morphology and intercellular space permeability using lanthanum.
Main Results:
- Sertoli cell junctions showed progressive complexity with age.
- In younger boys (5-8 years), junctions were focal; in older boys (9-12 years), they were more extensive.
- Chemotherapy did not appear to hinder junction development, with gap junctions observed in all patients.
Conclusions:
- Tight junction formation in Sertoli cells initiates well before puberty.
- Testicular tubule maturation involves increasing complexity of tight junction strand organization.
- Continuous, parallel strand organization characteristic of puberty is not yet established in prepubertal boys.
Abstract:
The inter-Sertoli junctions of children aged between 5 and 12 years, affected by acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, were analyzed in sections and freeze-fracture replicas. The testicular biopsies were performed at the end of therapy, when patients were in continuous remission for over 30 months. Chemotherapy does not seem to affect the development of junctions that were studied in sections and freeze fracture. Two age groups were considered (I, 5 to 8 years; II, 9 to 12 years). In age group I, oval Sertoli cells were connected by occasionally focal points of fusion, which in replicas appeared as scattered, interrupted ridges on the P face and grooves on the corresponding E face. In age group II Sertoli cells presented cytoplasmic extensions and interdigitations. Tight junctions appeared close to one another in conventional sections. Freeze fracture evidenced extensive although isolated areas formed by intervining strands. Lanthanum penetrated freely the intercellular spaces and gap junctions were observed in both age groups. The results suggest that tight junctions formation is initiated long before puberty; a progression in the complexity of the strand organization is present as the tubules mature; the strands reorganize in parallel and continuous rows only at puberty.