000309970 001__ 309970
000309970 005__ 20240928181529.0
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000309970 035__ $$aG:(GEPRIS)45912686
000309970 040__ $$aGEPRIS$$chttp://gepris.its.kfa-juelich.de
000309970 150__ $$aThe peritubular lamina propria testis and male Infertility: Relevance of contractility and fibrosis$$y2008 - 2016
000309970 371__ $$aProfessor Dr. Ralf Middendorff
000309970 450__ $$aDFG project G:(GEPRIS)45912686$$wd$$y2008 - 2016
000309970 5101_ $$0I:(DE-588b)2007744-0$$aDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft$$bDFG
000309970 550__ $$0G:(GEPRIS)34016037$$aKFO 181: Male factor infertility due to impaired spermatogenesis$$wt
000309970 680__ $$aPeritubular contractile cells (myofibroblasts) of the lamina propria (LP), surrounding germ cells of seminiferous tubules, are crucial for the transport of immature sperm to the epididymis. Moreover, a thickened (fibrotic) LP coincides with disturbed spermatogenesis and infertility. Most recently, we showed that fully differentiated myofibroblasts are present in each tubule, even in case of thickened LP, indicating that disturbed spermatogenesis associated with thickened LP is not due to dedifferentiation of myofibroblasts. It is not known, however, whether contractility of whole tubules, with myofibroblasts surrounded by great amounts of extracellular matrix, is preserved. Using newly developed approaches to monitor tubular contractility in animal models {ex vivo and in vivo) and man (ex vivo), contractions of tubules with regular and thickened LP, luminal sperm transport and spermiatio will be analyzed and influenced pharmacologically. Thickening of LP resembles fibrotic changes observed in other organs. In lung and heart, deregulated epithelial-mesenchymal communication, fibroblast to myofibroblast transformation, migration of myofibroblasts, their provenance from non-fibroblastic progenitor cells and an involvement of cGMP pathways have been suggested. In the testis, however, mechanisms leading to LP fibrosis and the relevance of these alterations for disturbed spermatogenesis are unknown. Time course experiments with animal models, known to induce fibrosis, and to delete the germ cell population, respectively, will assess the role of myofibroblasts and help to clarify whether thickened LP results in disturbed spermatogenesis and/or whether thickened LP develops secondarily to disturbed spermatogenesis.
000309970 909CO $$ooai:juser.fz-juelich.de:976845$$pauthority$$pauthority:GRANT
000309970 909CO $$ooai:juser.fz-juelich.de:976845
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000309970 980__ $$aAUTHORITY