Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P56851 (epididymal)
 11,273 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have identified the sites of transcription of the apolipoprotein D (apoD) gene in the rabbit by in situ hybridization. We show here for the first time that 1) apoD mRNA production does not correlate with the sites of steroid hormone production in adrenal glands nor male genital tissues; and 2) the expression of the apoD gene is clearly higher in white than in gray matter throughout the central nervous system (CNS). Specifically, apoD mRNA was abundant near blood vessels and was expressed mostly in fibroblast-like cells, in particular in the testis, the efferent ducts, the ductus epididymis, the lung, and the subarachnoid space of the CNS. Other positive cell types were endothelial cells of adrenal sinusoidal capillaries and glial cells of the CNS. We detected apoD mRNA in both the adrenal cortex and medulla. White but not gray matter showed high levels of apoD mRNA throughout both the rabbit CNS and in human brain. The red pulp of spleen showed a strong hybridization. In prepubertal rabbits apoD mRNA levels were moderate in both testis and epididymis. Epididymal but not testicular expression increased with the onset of puberty and epididymal levels always exceeded those of the testes in animals showing spermatogenesis. Thus, the variation in levels of apoD mRNA among organs in vivo, that we and others have previously reported, can be explained by transcription being not only characteristic of cell type, with a few common cell types producing in each organ, but transcription also varied among cells of the same lineage.
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PMID:Localization of the major sites of rabbit apolipoprotein D gene transcription by in situ hybridization. 181 24

Transgenic (Tg) mice expressing human fibroblast growth factor 8b (FGF8-b) under the probasin promoter (Tg [Pbsn-FGF8] L2-L5Elo; hereafter referred to as FGF8-b-Tg) were shown to produce FGF8-b at high levels in the prostate and epididymis and at lower levels in the testis. The present study examined the effects of FGF8-b expression on the epididymis and testis. In old (age, >6 mo) FGF8-b-Tg mice, epididymides were frequently enlarged, with epithelial and stromal hypercellularity progressing upon aging to epithelial dysplasia and malignant transformation of stroma. In addition, oligospermia, dilatation of the duct, and inflammation were frequently observed in the epididymides. In association with the epididymal changes, some FGF8-b-Tg mice presented a degenerative seminiferous epithelium of the testis. Consistent with this observation, infertile males were found in two FGF8-b-Tg mouse lines. Masson trichrome staining and immunohistochemical analysis of smooth muscle actin, laminin, and androgen receptor revealed that changes in the epididymal stroma closely resembled those previously found in the prostates of the FGF8-b-Tg mice. Genes previously found to be upregulated in the prostate of FGF8-b-Tg mice, such as osteopontin (Spp1) connective tissue growth factor (Ctgf), apolipoprotein D (Apod), and FGF receptor 1c (Fgfr1-c), were also upregulated in the epididymides, suggesting that similar molecular mechanisms were active in both tissues. However, unlike in the prostate, the changes in the epididymal epithelium of the FGF8-b-Tg mice did not progress into invasive carcinoma. The results suggest that prolonged and enhanced FGF signaling induces dramatic changes in the epididymis and testis that lead to infertility in a portion of the FGF8-b-Tg males.
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PMID:Fibroblast growth factor 8b causes progressive stromal and epithelial changes in the epididymis and degeneration of the seminiferous epithelium in the testis of transgenic mice. 2242 49