ABSTRACT
The mammalian epididymis not only plays a fundamental role in the maturation of spermatozoa, but also provides protection against various stressors. The foremost among these is the threat posed by oxidative stress, which arises from an imbalance in reactive oxygen species and can elicit damage to cellular lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. In mice, the risk of oxidative damage to spermatozoa is mitigated through the expression and secretion of glutathione peroxidase 5 (GPX5) as a major luminal scavenger in the proximal caput epididymidal segment. Accordingly, the loss of GPX5-mediated protection leads to impaired DNA integrity in the spermatozoa of aged Gpx5
ABSTRACT
<p><b>AIM</b>To investigate the spatial and temporal expression of germ cell nuclear factor (GCNF) in mouse and rat epididymis during postnatal period.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The epididymal sections from different postnatal days were stained for GCNF by the indirect immunofluorescence technique and digital photographs were taken by a Carl Zeiss confocal microscope.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>GCNF was first detected on day 12 in mouse epididymis and day 14 in rat epididymis. The highest expression of GCNF was observed on day 35 in both mouse and rat epididymis. In adults, GCNF exhibited a region-specific expression pattern, i.e., it was expressed predominantly in the initial segment, caput and proximal corpus of rat epididymis and was abundant in the proximal corpus of mouse epididymis. GCNF could be found in the nuclei of the principal, apical, narrow, clear and halo cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>GCNF may play an important role in epididymal differentiation and development and in sperm maturation.</p>