Rat Prostaglandin D2 Synthetase: Its Tissue Distribution, Changes during Maturation, and Regulation in the Testis and Epididymis1

Abstract

The changes in glutathione-independent prostaglandin D2 synthetase (PGD-S) during maturation in the rat were determined in selected organs by an RIA using PGD-S purified from rat cerebrospinal fluid and a monospecific anti-rat PGD-S polyclonal antibody. In a survey of its tissue distribution in various organ extracts and biological fluids, it was found that the concentration of PGD-S was highest in the epididymis-about 6- and 80-fold greater than that in the brain and testis, respectively. During maturation, PGD-S concentration increased steadily in the testis and epididymis; this is in contrast to the pattern of changes in the brain and liver, which showed a general trend of decline. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Southern blotting were used to demonstrate the presence of PGD-S mRNA transcript in the testis and in Sertoli and germ cells. In the epididymis, the steady-state PGD-S mRNA level was highest in the caput, followed by the cauda and corpus. Orchiectomy induced a drastic reduction of PGD-S concentration in all three epididymal compartments. Administration of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) failed to restore the reduced epididymal PGD-S level except in the caput epididymis, where 4 days after DHT treatment the level of PGD-S was restored to about 50% of the pre-orchiectomized level; this suggests that the epididymal PGD-S level is not entirely regulated by androgen and that another yet to be identified testicular factor(s) is likely to be involved in its regulation. Germ cell-conditioned medium was also shown to stimulate PGD-S expression in the Sertoli cell. These results illustrate that PGD-S is an important molecule in testicular and epididymal function and that it is likely involved in spermatogenesis and sperm maturation.

Deficiency in the Omega-3 Fatty Acid Pathway Results in Failure of Acrosome Biogenesis in Mice1

“…Spermiogenesis Is Disrupted at the Golgi Phase Due to HUFA Deficiency Spermiogenesis consists of 16 steps, which can be divided into four phases: Golgi (steps 1-3), cap (steps 4-7), acrosomal (steps [8][9][10][11][12], and maturation (steps [13][14][15][16] [31,32]. Acrosome biogenesis occurs during the Golgi and cap phases.…”

“…A high concentration of DHA in the human sperm tail implies a possible role of DHA in sperm motility [10]. Also, involvement of AA in male reproduction was implicated because synthesis of prostaglandin D 2 , E 2 , and I 2 was detected in testis and epididymis [12,13].…”

Prostaglandin D Synthase (β-Trace) in Meningeal Hemangiopericytoma

“…Recently PGDS expression in testis and heart has been reported (16,17). PGDS mRNA is detected by in situ hybridization in mouse embryonic mesenchymal cells destined to become arachnoid cells and later in the developing testis (18).…”

Molecular evolution of epididymal lipocalin genes localized on mouse chromosome 2

“…Interestingly, this epididymis-specific lipocalin cluster is flanked by other members of the lipocalin family, such as Lcn11, PGDS, and Lcn2 (Chan et al, 1994), that are expressed in other tissues besides the epididymis (Sorrentino et al, 1998;Chu et al, 2000), while the genes of the epididymal cluster are expressed only in the epididymis. This suggests that the epididymis-specific lipocalin cluster may contain a locus control region that enhances lipocalin gene expression only in the epididymis, while genes flanking either side of this epididymal gene cluster show expression in other tissues besides the epididymis.…”