Journal of Andrology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Carpenter, A. M.
Right arrow Articles by Hutson, J. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Carpenter, A. M.
Right arrow Articles by Hutson, J. C.

Journal of Andrology, Vol 19, Issue 4 420-427, Copyright © 1998 by The American Society of Andrology

JOURNAL ARTICLE

FSH does not directly influence testicular macrophages

A. M. Carpenter, Y. O. Lukyanenko, V. H. Lee and J. C. Hutson
Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock 79430, USA.

We have previously demonstrated that conditioned medium from testicular macrophages stimulates testosterone production by Leydig cells. It was also reported that conditioned medium from macrophages treated with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) had an even greater amount of Leydig cell-stimulating activity than medium from untreated macrophages, indicating that this factor is under the regulation of FSH. However, most other laboratories have been unable to reproduce this effect of FSH. We have recently purified and partially characterized the stimulatory factor from macrophage-conditioned medium that stimulates Leydig cells. The purpose of the present investigation was to reinvestigate the effect of FSH by determining whether it regulates the production of this purified factor and by determining whether macrophages have mRNA for the FSH receptor. Testicular macrophages were isolated from adult rats and incubated 24 hours with human recombinant FSH (20 units/ml), ovine FSH (200 ng/ml), fetal bovine serum (2%), or dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate (1 mM). The macrophage-derived factor (MDF) was then purified from conditioned medium of the various treatment groups and added to Leydig cells. The concentration of testosterone in the Leydig cell medium was then measured after 16 hours. It was found that serum significantly stimulated production of the MDF. However, FSH had no effect on production of the MDF in the presence or absence of serum. Dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate exerted a slight inhibitory effect on production of the macrophage-derived factor. Most importantly, testicular macrophages did not express detectable levels of FSH receptor mRNA, either in vivo or in vitro, when evaluated using either in situ hybridization or northern analysis, under identical conditions that clearly demonstrated FSH receptor mRNA in Sertoli cells. We conclude that testicular macrophages are not a direct target for FSH.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 EndocrinologyHome page
M. H. Abel, P. J. Baker, H. M. Charlton, A. Monteiro, G. Verhoeven, K. De Gendt, F. Guillou, and P. J. O'Shaughnessy
Spermatogenesis and Sertoli Cell Activity in Mice Lacking Sertoli Cell Receptors for Follicle-Stimulating Hormone and Androgen
Endocrinology, July 1, 2008; 149(7): 3279 - 3285.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1998 by The American Society of Andrology.