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N‐cadherin and actin are present at desmosomes in the seminiferous epithelium of the adult testis
Author(s) -
Asis Marc Aristaeus Kaw,
Young J'Nelle S.,
Vogl A. Wayne
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.828.1
Subject(s) - epithelium , microbiology and biotechnology , intermediate filament , actin , plectin , sertoli cell , cytoplasm , blood–testis barrier , cadherin , chemistry , biology , vimentin , cytoskeleton , spermatogenesis , endocrinology , immunology , cell , immunohistochemistry , biochemistry , genetics
Desmosomes in the seminiferous epithelium of the adult mammalian testis are not as well defined morphologically as those in most other epithelia. Moreover, the plasma membrane related plaques in Sertoli cells are linked to vimentin filaments, not to keratin filaments. Previous studies have indicated that these desmosomes contain classical actin‐related cadherins, thereby raising the interesting possibility that these junctions may have characteristics both of actin and of intermediate filament based junctions. To explore this possibility, we probed the seminiferous epithelium of adult male Spraque Dawly rats for N‐cadherin, actin, and plectin. In fixed frozen sections, N‐cadherin labeled sites at the base of the epithelium that only partly appeared to colocalized with the intensely labeled actin in ectoplasmic specializations. In fragmented epithelium, the actin probe reacted with plectin positive desmosomes. At the ultrastructural level, the probe for N‐cadherin clearly labeled desmosomes. Significantly, an antibody to actin also reacted above background with desmosomes and was localized close to the cytoplasmic face of the membrane related plaques. Our results are consistent with the conclusion that desmosomes in the seminiferous epithelium have characteristics both of actin and of intermediate filament based attachment junctions. Grant Funding Source NSERC