Skip Navigation



Mol. Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on January 29, 2004
Molecular Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/molehr/gah027
© 2004 by Oxford University Press
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
10/3/197    most recent
gah027v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Légaré, C.
Right arrow Articles by Sullivan, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Légaré, C.
Right arrow Articles by Sullivan, R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Received October 1, 2003
Revised November 10, 2003
Accepted November 19, 2003

Article

Expression of heat shock protein 70 in normal and cryptorchid human excurrent duct

Christine Légaré 1, Michel Thabet 2, Robert Sullivan 3*

1 Département d’Obstétrique-Gynécologie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
2 Chirurgie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
3 Département d’Obstétrique-Gynécologie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada; Unité d’Ontogénie-Reproduction, Centre de Recherche, Centre Hospitalier de l’Université Laval, PQ, Canada

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: robert.sullivan{at}crchul.ulaval.ca.


  Abstract

The Hsp70 heat-shock proteins are molecular chaperones that assist other proteins in their folding, transport and assembly into complexes. Most of these proteins are either constitutively expressed or induced by heat shock and other stresses. Heat shock proteins are required for spermatogenesis, and also protect cells from environmental hazards such as heat, radiation, and chemicals. The abdominal position of the cryptorchid testis provokes a temperature elevation which is detrimental to spermatogenesis and causes infertility. The consequences of such a stress on Hsp70 expression were evaluated in normal and cryptorchid epididymides and vas deferens. Hsp70-1 transcript from reproductive organs of normal and cryptorchid men was analysed by real-time quantitative RT-PCR, meanwhile Hsp70 protein was characterized by western blot and immunohistochemical staining analysis. Hsp70-1 mRNA and protein showed equal expression in all segments of normal epididymis and ductus deferens. Hsp70 was specific to basal cells in the epididymal epithelium. For cryptorchid patients, Hsp70-1 mRNA expression in caput epididymidis was unchanged compared with controls. However, in corpus and cauda epididymides as well as in vas deferens, the expression level of Hsp70-1 transcript was higher for the cryptorchid tissues. Changes in mRNA frequency were specifically correlated with the age of the patients. By opposition to the mRNA, western blot analysis revealed that Hsp70 protein levels were not affected by the inguinal location of the epididymis. The data show that Hsp70-1 transcript and protein were constitutively expressed in human excurrent duct and that an inguinal location can stimulate the expression of Hsp70-1 mRNA along the human epididymis and ductus deferens.

Key Words: Key words: cryptorchidism/epididymis/gene expression/Hsp70/human


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.