An in vitro study on the formation of specialized inter-Sertoli cell junctions

The movement of germ cells (GC) across the seminiferous epithelium from the basal to the adluminal compartment is an essential cellular event during s permatogenesis. However, the cascade of events pertinent to GC movement and its regulation are largely unexplored. Since the movement of GC consists o f a series of intercellular junction disassembly and reassembly, an in vitr o culture system with Sertoli cells (SC) was used to investigate the expres sion of target genes pertinent to occluding junctions (OJ) (such as zonula occludens-1), anchoring junctions (AJ) (such as N-cadherin and beta-catenin ), and communicating gap junctions (GJ) (such as connexin 33) when speciali zed inter-Sertoli junctions were being formed. This study thus seeks to exa mine an important aspect of GC movement. Our results illustrate the timely but coordinated expression of target genes pertinent to OJ, AJ, and GJ when junctions are being formed illustrating a disruption of their expression c an possibly perturb cell-cell communications.