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Molecular Mechanisms in Spermatogenesis pp 241–254Cite as

Spermiation: Insights from Studies on the Adjudin Model

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Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1381))

Abstract

Spermatogenesis is comprised of a series of cellular events that lead to the generation of haploid sperm. These events include self-renewal of spermatogonial stem cells (SSC), proliferation of spermatogonia by mitosis, differentiation of spermatogonia and spermatocytes, generation of haploid spermatids via meiosis I/II, and spermiogenesis. Spermiogenesis consists of a series of morphological events in which spermatids are being transported across the apical compartment of the seminiferous epithelium while maturing into spermatozoa, which include condensation of the genetic materials, biogenesis of acrosome, packaging of the mitocondria into the mid-piece, and elongation of the sperm tail. However, the biology of spermiation remains poorly understood. In this review, we provide in-depth analysis based on the use of bioinformatics tools and an animal model that mimics spermiation through treatment of adult rats with adjudin, a non-hormonal male contraceptive known to induce extensive germ cell exfoliation across the seminiferous epithelium, but nost notably elongating/elongated spermatids. These analyses have shed insightful information regaridng the biology of spermiation.

Studies conducted in the authors’ laboratory were supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (HD0299990 to C.Y.C. Project 5; R01 HD056034 to C.Y.C.). Dr. Haiqi Chen's Current Address: The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA

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Acknowledgements

Studies in tha authors’ laboratory were supported in part by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health (R01 HD056034 to C.Y.C.; U54 HD029990 Project 5 to C.Y.C.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Mary M. Wohlford Laboratory for Male Contraceptive Research, Center for Biomedical Research, Population Council, New York, NY, USA

    Haiqi Chen & Dolores D. Mruk

  2. College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Yu Jiang

  3. Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital (SRRSH), Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    C. Yan Cheng

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  1. Haiqi Chen
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  2. Yu Jiang
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  3. Dolores D. Mruk
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  4. C. Yan Cheng
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Correspondence to C. Yan Cheng .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital (SRRSH), Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    C.Yan Cheng

  2. Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital (SRRSH), Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Fei Sun

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Chen, H., Jiang, Y., Mruk, D.D., Cheng, C.Y. (2021). Spermiation: Insights from Studies on the Adjudin Model. In: Cheng, C., Sun, F. (eds) Molecular Mechanisms in Spermatogenesis. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1381. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77779-1_12

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