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Cell type of mammalian testis which is involved in the synthesis and secretion of testosterone and the maintenance of spermatogenesis are the fully differentiated interstitial Leydig cells (LC). Their ultrastructure possesses the typical characteristics of steroid-producing cells. It has been generally accepted that two waves of proliferation and differentiation can be discerned during the development of the Leydig cell population in the rodent and human testis. Treatment with ethane dimethane sulphonate (EDS) destroys selectively LC. A new LC population develops in the following weeks and this model has been used by us to study the proliferation and differentiation of new LC. Our results support the suggestion that the regeneration of a new LC population following EDS administration shows many similarities with the formation of the adult type LC in the prepubertal mammalian testis.

A germ cell nuclear antigen with approximately 44-kDa molecular weight was identified by a novel monoclonal antibody designated as Mab 2F2 from the library we have accumulated against rat testicular cells. In immature 20-day-old and adult rat testis the recognized antigen was expressed in the nuclei of early meiotic cells from preleptotene to early pachytene spermatocytes exhibiting a stage-specific appearance in the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium. The immunoreactivity was clearly associated with the meiotic chromosomes. The antigen was not detected in the late pachytene spermatocytes and more advanced stages of spermatogenesis. No labeling was observed in spermatogonia and somatic Sertoli and Leydig cells. The pattern of expression of the recognized antigen during early meiotic stages of spermatogenesis but not in mitotically dividing spermatogonia could strengthen its possible role in meiotic division., (Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

OBJECTIVE: To characterize immunocytochemically the antigen recognized which appears at specific stages of germ cell development and acrosomal biogenesis by the novel monoclonal antibody (Mab 3C2). METHODS: The novel monoclonal antibody (Mab 3C2) raised against testicular Sertoli and germ cells. RESULTS: The immunoreactivity of this Mab in testicular sections from immature 20-day-old rats was confined to the pachytene spermatocytes. In adult testis the Mab 3C2, besides meiotic cells, recognized also acrosomal component of round spermatids. The immune reaction was observed in Golgi and cap phases of acrosomal development until the stage VIII of the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium. Immunostaining was absent in acrosome of elongating and mature spermatids and indicated that some modifications in acrosomal protein may exist in subsequent stages of acrosomal development. CONCLUSIONS: Novel Mab 3C2 shares a common antigen in pachytene spermatocytes and round spermatids. Therefore, it may be a marker of meiotic and postmeiotic germ cells.

Using a monoclonal antibody (Mab) against constituents of rat ovarian granulosa cells, we found a 59-kDa protein located on the plasma membrane of a number of granulosa cells in follicles at different stages of development. This Mab (5G5) was found to bind to Leydig cells in rat male gonads. The localization of the antigen, recognized by Mab 5G5 in rat testis, was studied by light and electron microscopic immunocytochemistry (ABC method and IGS technique). Even though Sertoli cells in male gonads are regarded as the counterpart of granulosa cells in ovaries, the results of the experiments described here do not allow such an interpretation because staining with this antibody was restricted to the Leydig cell surface. The immunoreactivity in testicular sections from immature rats was similar to that found in adult testicular tissue. Our immunocytochemical results indicate that the plasma membrane of Leydig cells in rat male gonads shares certain biochemical and molecular properties with rat ovarian granulosa cells. On the basis of the immunocytochemical studies reported here, we suggest that the antigen recognized by Mab 5G5 may be common to all rat steroidogenic organs. Further studies are needed to establish the identity of the antigen in Leydig cells as well as its site of synthesis and its site of action. Thus, Mab 5G5 appears to hold significant potential as a powerful tool for future investigations.

There is little information on the mitogenic and immunoregulatory activities of proteins, secreted by prepubertal Sertoli cells during the stage of meiosis initiation and before creation of the blood-testis barrier. We have previously demonstrated dose-dependent and age-related stimulation of BALB/c 3T3 fibroblasts and quiescent rat prespermatogonia (Kancheva et al., 1990) as well as inhibition of natural killer cell activity of mice, guinea pigs and human lymphocytes (Nikolova et al., 1992) by Sertoli cell-conditioned medium derived from 12-day-old rats. In the current study, using splenic lymphocytes stimulated by PHA, LPS and Con A, we have shown a dose-dependent inhibition of T and B lymphocyte proliferation by prepubertal Sertoli cell-secreted proteins (pSCSP). These results suggest that by the time the blood-testis barrier had been formed, Sertoli cell in rat testis had already synthesized immunoregulatory proteins. In addition we have found that pSCSP stimulate the proliferation of TM3 Leydig but not TM4 Sertoli cells. The differential effect of pSCSP is an expression of the different balance between growth factors secreted by Sertoli cells, which in turn is dependent on the requirements of the cell types at each stage of testicular development.

The effect of proteins secreted by cultured pre-pubertal rat Sertoli cells (pSCP) on natural killer (NK) cell activity of rat, mice and guinea pig splenocytes and human peripheral blood lymphocytes was estimated. The results indicate that pSCP inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, NK cell activity of mice, guinea pig and human lymphocytes but did not suppress lysis of YAC-1 target cells by rat NK cells. Species-specific differences in the effect of pSCP on NK cell activity probably result from differences in the binding of proteins within the effector cells. These data indicate that in the pre-pubertal period of gonadal development immature Sertoli cells synthesize a factor/s which might contribute to the maintenance of specific testis immunological environment.

Sertoli cells were isolated from prepubertal 6- and 12-day-old rats. The Sertoli cell-conditioned media (SCCM-6 and SCCM-12) can markedly stimulate the proliferation of somatic cells and quiescent rat prespermatogonia in a dose-dependent and an age-related manner. SCCM-12 stimulated cell proliferation of BALB/c 3T3 fibroblasts up to 7-fold over control values, but did not stimulate to the same degree the germ cell mitotic activity. SCCM-6 stimulated proliferation of prespermatogonia up to 5-10-fold over controls. The mitogenic factor(s) in SCCM-6 appears to be more specific to prespermatogonia than to somatic cells which is consistent with the in vivo stimulation of mitosis in germ cells 5-6 days after birth and with the action of 'mitosis inducing substance'. The mitogenic factor(s) appears to be protein with a molecular weight over 8000 and sensitive to heat and trypsin treatment. These results suggest that the different mitogenicity of prepubertal rat SCCM on germ and somatic cells may be due to secretion of multiple mitogens by Sertoli cells in an age-dependent manner.

In previous studies of proliferating mammalian cells a p125/6.5 nuclear matrix antigen displaying a marked increase in mitotic cells has been identified. This antigen was investigated by immunocytochemistry of cryosections of testes at different stages of postnatal development: newborn, 20 days after birth and sexually mature rats. In Sertoli cells, the distribution of the p125/6.5 antigen parallels [3H]thymidine incorporation: present in newborn and absent in sexually mature testes. The p125/6.5 antigen is present also in some prespermatogonia of the newborn rat testis, which do not incorporate [3H]thymidine. At later stages of development, the p125/6.5 antigen is present also in first meiotic prophase spermatocytes displaying an extrachromosomal nucleoplasmic distribution, while absent in spermatids and spermatozoa. These results show that the p125/6.5 antigen increases not only during mitosis, but also during meiosis. They suggest further that this antigen is characteristic of both proliferating cells and cells (prespermatogonia) committed to proliferation.

Bone marrow, spleen and liver of healthy and erythroleukemic mice have been studied by autoradiography. A peripheral zone, where the most of cells were involved in mitosis, and a central one, where the mitotic index was lower, were established in the bone marrow. Normally a zone of high proliferative activity was found in the subcapsular region of the spleen. Boundaries of such zones in the bone marrow and spleen of erythroleukemic mice disappeared. Most of the cells forming the leukemia infiltrates in the liver are in the phase of DNA-synthesis.