Distribution of type IV collagen subtypes in human testes and their association with spermatogenesis

Testicular immunohistochemical and Ultrastructural changes associated with chronic cholestasis in rats: Effect of ursodeoxycholic acid

“…Oxidative stress, mediated by the toxic hydrophobic bile acids and lipid peroxidation degradative products, provokes a defensive proliferative response by the myoid cells to form a barrier to toxic substances [36]. Such thickening results in the impairment of the transportation of oxygen, metabolites and hormones to the germinal epithelium [37], and end in testicular dysfunction [38,39]. The thickening of the basement membrane was reported in other models of testicular injury [36,40,41].…”

Gene signatures of testicular seminoma with emphasis on expression of ets variant gene 4

“…From our analyses, ETV4 seems to regulate the transcript levels of MMP2 and ADAM15 in testis. MMP2 encodes gelatinase A, which degrades type IV collagen, the major structural component of basement membranes, and which is known to be extensively developed in testis [35]. MMP2 expression was slightly increased in seminoma samples.…”

Transmission Electron Microscopy for the Quantitative Analysis of Testis Ultra Structure

“…Therefore, alteration of basement membrane structure can impair the severe function of testis [29]. Several proteins including laminin, type IV collagen, various heparin sulfate proteoglycans and ectatin/nidogen is collected in the basement membrane [31]. Type IV collagen is a major constituent of basement membrane which is secreted by Sertoli cells and myofibroblasts [32] and it has been localized in the inner and the outer extracellular matrix (ECM) layers of the basement membrane of seminiferous tubules [30].…”

“…Many reports have showed that overexpression of type IV collagen correlates with thickened basement membrane and it is related to spermatogenic dysfunction in mammals [31,33,34]. Some studies demonstrate an increase in size of the basement membrane, others do not indicate significant changes in senescence [36][37][38][39][40].…”