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Extracellular purines from cells of seminiferous tubules

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Abstract

It has been long postulated that extracellular purines can modulate the function of the male reproductive system by interacting with different purinergic receptors of Sertoli and germinative cells. Many authors have described the biological changes induced by extracellular ATP and/or adenosine in these cells, and some hypothetical models for paracrine communication mediated by purines were proposed; however, the cellular source(s) of these molecules in seminiferous tubules remains unknown. In this study, we demonstrated for the first time that Sertoli cells are able to release ATP (0.3 nmol/mg protein) and adenosine (0.1 nmol/mg protein) in the extracellular medium, while germinative and myoid peritubular cells are able to secrete adenosine (0.02 and 0.37 nmol/mg protein, respectively). Indeed, all the three types of cells were able to release inosine at significant concentrations (about 0.4 nmol/mg protein). This differential secretion depending on the cellular type suggests that these molecules may be involved in the paracrine regulation and/or control of the maturation processes of these cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Transdução de Sinal em Células Testiculares, Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Daniel Pens Gelain & Luiz Fernando de Souza

  2. Departamento de Bioquímica, (ICBS-UFRGS), Rua Ramiro Barcelos, 2600 anexo, CEP 90035-003, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Elena Aida Bernard

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  1. Daniel Pens Gelain
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  2. Luiz Fernando de Souza
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Gelain, D.P., de Souza, L.F. & Bernard, E.A. Extracellular purines from cells of seminiferous tubules. Mol Cell Biochem 245, 1–9 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022857608849

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