Role for endogenous estrogen in prepubertal Sertoli cell maturation.

Reducing prepubertal endogenous estrogens led to increased numbers of Sertoli cells and the associated increased testicular size and testicular sperm production capacity in boars. The increased number of Sertoli cells might be due to a longer time for proliferation; delayed differentiation of Sertoli cells during suppressed endogenous estrogens would be consistent with this hypothesized, prolonged proliferation interval. This study used immunohistochemical detection of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), a marker of immature Sertoli cells, and of CDKN1B, a cell cycle inhibitor associated with more mature Sertoli cells, to determine if suppressing endogenous estrogens detectably delayed "differentiation" of porcine Sertoli cells. Testes were from littermate pairs of boars previously treated with Letrozole, an aromatase inhibitor, or vehicle, from the first week of age until tissue collection at 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 months of age. Four animals were examined at each age following Letrozole treatment and their corresponding littermates evaluated following treatment with vehicle. Amount of AMH protein in Sertoli cells decreased with age of boar and could not be detected at 6 months of age. The AMH labeling was greater in the Letrozole-treated boars compared with littermate vehicle controls at 4 months of age (P=0.03). The percentage of CDKN1B-labeled Sertoli cells apparently increased with age through 5 months of age. At 4 and 5 months of age, the mean percentage of CDKN1B-labeled Sertoli cells was less in the Letrozole-treated animals than in the vehicle control animals (P = 0.03 and 0.04, respectively). These results are consistent with the hypothesis that continual inhibition of aromatase (and concomitatant reduced estrogen synthesis) causes a delay in Sertoli cell maturation in boars.

Human immunodeficiency virus protease inhibitors modulate Ca2+ homeostasis and potentiate alcoholic stress and injury in mice and primary mouse and human hepatocytes.

UNLABELLED: A portion of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients undergoing protease inhibitor (PI) therapy concomitantly consume or abuse alcohol leading to hepatic injury. The underling mechanisms are not known. We hypothesize that HIV PIs aggravate alcohol-induced liver injury through an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress mechanism. To address this, we treated mice, primary mouse hepatocytes (PMHs), and primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) with alcohol and the HIV PIs ritonavir (RIT) and lopinavir (LOP). In mice, RIT and LOP induced mild ER stress and inhibition of sarco/ER calcium-ATPase (SERCA) without significant increase in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. However, a single dose of alcohol plus the two HIV PIs caused a more than five-fold increase in serum ALT, a synergistic increase in alcohol-induced liver lipid accumulation and ER stress response, and a decrease of SERCA. Mice treated with chronic HIV PIs and alcohol developed moderate liver fibrosis. In PMHs, the HIV drugs plus alcohol also inhibited SERCA expression and increased expression of glucose-regulated protein 78, C/EBP homologous protein, sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c, and phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase 2, which were accompanied by a synergistic increase in cell death compared with alcohol or the HIV drugs alone. In PHHs, treatment with RIT and LOP or alcohol alone increased messenger RNA of spliced X box-binding protein 1 and decreased SERCA, which were accompanied by reduced levels of intracellular calcium. Alcohol combined with the HIV drugs significantly reduced intracellular calcium levels and potentiated cell death, which was comparable to the cell death caused by the SERCA inhibitor thapsigargin. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest the possibility that HIV PIs potentiate alcohol-induced ER stress and injury through modulation of SERCA and maintaining calcium homeostasis could be a therapeutic aim for better care of HIV patients.

Liver-specific loss of glucose-regulated protein 78 perturbs the unfolded protein response and exacerbates a spectrum of liver diseases in mice.

UNLABELLED: The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone protein glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78)/binding immunoglobulin protein is a master regulator of ER homeostasis and stress responses, which have been implicated in the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders. By applying the locus of X-over P1-cyclization recombination strategy, we generated mice with liver-specific GRP78 loss. Our studies using this novel mouse model revealed that liver GRP78 was required for neonatal survival, and a loss of GRP78 in the adult liver greater than 50% caused an ER stress response and dilation of the ER compartment, which was accompanied by the onset of apoptosis. This suggested the critical involvement of GRP78 in maintaining hepatocyte ER homeostasis and viability. Furthermore, these mice exhibited elevations of serum alanine aminotransferase and fat accumulation in the liver, and they were sensitized to a variety of acute and chronic hepatic disorders by alcohol, a high-fat diet, drugs, and toxins. These disorders were alleviated by the simultaneous administration of the molecular chaperone 4-phenylbutyrate. A microarray analysis and a two-dimensional protein profile revealed major perturbations of unfolded protein response targets, common enzymes/factors in lipogenesis, and new factors possibly contributing to liver steatosis or fibrosis under ER stress (e.g., major urinary proteins in the liver, fatty acid binding proteins, adipose differentiation-related protein, cysteine-rich with epidermal growth factor-like domains 2, nuclear protein 1, and growth differentiation factor 15). CONCLUSION: Our findings underscore the importance of GRP78 in managing the physiological client protein load and suppressing apoptosis in hepatocytes, and they support the pathological role of ER stress in the evolution of fatty liver disease under adverse conditions (i.e., drugs, diet, toxins, and alcohol).