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Background: Ten percent of the female population suffers from congenital abnormalities of the vagina, uterus, or oviducts, with severe consequences for reproductive and psychological health. Yet, the underlying causes of most of these malformations remain largely unknown. ADGRA3 (GPR125) is involved in WNT signaling and planar cell polarity, mechanisms vital to female reproductive tract development. Although ADGRA3 is a well-established spermatogonial stem cell marker, its role within the female urogenital system remains unclear., Results: In this study, we found Adgra3 to be expressed throughout the murine female urogenital system, with higher expression pre-puberty than after sexual maturation. We generated a global Adgra3 -/- mouse line and observed imperforate vagina in 44% of Adgra3 -/- females, resulting in distension of the reproductive tract and infertility. Ovarian morphology, plasma estradiol, ovarian Cyp19a1, and vaginal estrogen receptor α (Esr1) expression were unaffected. However, compared to controls, a significantly lower bone mineral density was found in Adgra3 -/- mice. Whereas vaginal opening in mice is an estrogen-dependent process, 17β-estradiol treatment failed to induce vaginal canalization in Adgra3 -/- mice. Furthermore, a marked reduction in vaginal and ovarian progesterone receptor expression was observed concomitant with an upregulation of apoptotic regulators Bcl2, Bid, and Bmf in adult Adgra3 -/- females with a closed vagina., Conclusions: Our collective results shed new insights into the complex mechanisms by which the adhesion receptor ADGRA3 regulates distal vaginal tissue remodeling during vaginal canalization via altered sex hormone responsiveness and balance in apoptotic regulators. This highlights the potential of ADGRA3 as a target in diagnostic screening and/or therapy for obstructive vaginal malformations in humans., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The adhesion receptor ADGRA3 (GPR125) is a known spermatogonial stem cell marker, but its impact on male reproduction and fertility has not been examined. Using a mouse model lacking Adgra3 (Adgra3 -/- ), we show that 55% of the male mice are infertile from puberty despite having normal spermatogenesis and epididymal sperm count. Instead, male mice lacking Adgra3 exhibited decreased estrogen receptor alpha expression and transient dilation of the epididymis. Combined with an increased estradiol production, this indicates a post-pubertal hormonal imbalance and fluid retention. Dye injection revealed a blockage between the ejaculatory duct and the urethra, which is rare in mice suffering from infertility, thereby mimicking the etiologies of obstructive azoospermia found in human male infertility. To summarize, male reproductive tract development is dependent on ADGRA3 function that in concert with estrogen signaling may influence fluid handling during sperm maturation and storage., (© 2023 The Authors. The FASEB Journal published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.)

The orphan receptor GPR125 (ADGRA3) belongs to subgroup III of the adhesion G protein-coupled receptor (aGPCR) family. aGPCRs, also known as class B2 GPCRs, share basic structural and functional properties with other GPCRs. Many of them couple to G proteins and activate G protein-dependent and -independent signaling pathways, but little is known about aGPCR internalization and β-arrestin recruitment. GPR125 was originally described as a spermatogonial stem cell marker and studied for its role in Wnt signaling and cell polarity. Here, using cell-based assays and confocal microscopy, we show that GPR125 is expressed on the cell surface and undergoes constitutive endocytosis in a β-arrestin-independent, but clathrin-dependent manner, as indicated by colocalization with transferrin receptor 1, an early endosome marker. These data support that the constitutive internalization of GPR125 contributes to its biological functions by controlling receptor surface expression and accessibility for ligands. Our study sheds light on a new property of aGPCRs, namely internalization; a property described to be important for signal propagation, signal termination, and desensitization of class A (rhodopsin-like) and B1 (VIP/secretin) GPCRs., (© 2019 The Authors. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of New York Academy of Sciences.)