Journal of Andrology Testis Workshop 2009
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Published-Ahead-of-Print October 15, 2009
Journal of Andrology 2009, DOI:10.2164/jandrol.109.007658

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Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) Modulates Leydig Cells Extracellular Matrix Components

Angela Catizone , Giulia Ricci , Maria Antonietta Tufano , Brunella Perfetto , Rita Canipari , and Michela Galdieri *

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: michela.galdieri{at}uniroma1.it.

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a pleiotropic factor which plays multiple roles during mammalian development. We have previously demonstrated that in the postnatal testes the HGF receptor, c-met, is expressed by Leydig cells and HGF increases the steroidogenetic activity of the cells. In the present paper we report that HGF modify the composition of the extracellular matrix of cultured Leydig cells. We show that HGF increases metabolic activity of isolated Leydig cells; in particular the factor increases uPA and MMP 2 secretion. We have also shown that the levels of active TGF-beta are increased by HGF. On the contrary, utilizing the western blotting technique, a strong reduction of fibronectin present in the culture medium of cells cultured in the presence of HGF has been detected. The presented data demonstrate that HGF modulates several functional activity of Leydig cells, further supporting the hypothesis that this factor exerts a relevant role in the regulation of mammalian spermatogenesis.


Key words: Leydig cells • MMP • TGF-b • fibronectin • uPA






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