Male germ cell death in mouse testes: possible involvement of Fas and Fas ligand

摘要

Loss of germ cells is very common during various stages of mammalian spermatogenesis. Although cell death, particularly apoptosis, has been implicated, our unerstand- ing of the mechanisms underlying germ cell death is still limited. In order to elucidate the extent and mechanism of germ cell death, this review first covers what is known of germ cell degeneration in the normal testes of fetal, neona- tal, and adult mice from electron microscopy(EM)and from terminal dUTP nick-end labeling(TUNEL)staining. The issue of whether the Fas and Fas ligand(FasL)system Is involved in the induction of germ cell apoptosis in normal And damaged testes is then addressed, including consider- Ation of both the ischemia-reperfusion model of testicular Torsion and the estrogen-treated testis model of environ- Mental endocrine disruption.