Cs. Teng, REVERSIBLE CHANGES IN THE CONTENT OF CELLULAR AND MICROTUBULAR TUBULIN IN SPERMATOGENIC CELLS AFTER GOSSYPOL TREATMENT, Contraception, 55(1), 1997, pp. 41-46
After exposure of young male rats to gossypol acetic acid for various
times, a reduction in the content of cellular and microtubular beta-tu
bulin was found in spermatocytes and spermatids. The content of tubuli
n was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The resul
ts were expressed as micrograms tubulin/100 mu g total protein and com
pared with those of the control rats. After drug treatment for 2, 6, 1
2, and 20 weeks, the content of total cell tubulin in spermatocyte was
reduced by 2.4%, 8.8%, 52%, and 61%, respectively; whereas the conten
t of tubulin in spermatid was reduced by 7.4%, 36%, 70%, and 72%, resp
ectively. At the same time length of drug treatment, the content of mi
crotubular tubulin in spermatocyte was reduced by 1.6% 13%, 58%, and 6
1% in comparison to the reduction rate of 5%, 37%, 69%, and 77%, respe
ctively, for spermatid. These results indicated that the tubulin assoc
iated with spermatids were more vulnerable to gossypol than that of th
e spermatocytes. Eight weeks after withdrawal of the drug treatment, t
he content of tubulin in spermatocytes and spermatids was recovered. (
C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.