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Catecholamine-synthesizing enzymes in the adult and prenatal human testis

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Abstract

Catecholamines play functional roles in the mature and developing mammalian testis but the cell types responsible for their local synthesis are still controversially discussed. Here, we demonstrate that four enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of catecholamines, namely, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AADC), dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH) and phenylethanolamine- N-methyltransferase (PNMT), are expressed in Leydig cells of the human testis. Tyrosine hydroxylase, the key enzyme of the biosynthesis of catecholamines, was localized to Leydig cells both at the transcript level (by RT-PCR analyses and by in situ hybridization assays) and at the protein level (by immunoblotting and by immunohistochemistry). The other enzymes were also demonstrated in Leydig cells by RT-PCR and immunohistochemical analyses. The presence of TH, AADC, DBH, and PNMT in human Leydig cells was found, in addition, by immunohistochemical approaches carried out on sections from prenatal human testes. Thus, the present study identifies the Leydig cells as the presumed sites of catecholamine production in both the mature and fetal human testes and further supports the previously recognized neuroendocrine characteristics of this cell type.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Mrs. M. Köhler and Mrs. Ch. Knies for their excellent technical assistance. This study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DA 459/1-1; MI 637/1-1), Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (01 KY 9103/0 to D. Müller) and the “Verein zur Förderung der Forschung auf dem Gebiete der Fortpflanzung e.V.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Anatomy, University Hospital Hamburg, Martinistrasse 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany

    Michail S. Davidoff, Ralf Middendorff, Adolf F. Holstein & Wolfgang Pusch

  2. Clinic for General and Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Strasse 7, 24105, Kiel, Germany

    Hendrik Ungefroren

  3. Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Justus-Liebig-University, 35385, Giessen, Germany

    Ralf Middendorff

  4. Department of Anatomy and Histology, Medical University Plovdiv, V. Aprilov Street 15, 4000, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

    Yvetta Koeva

  5. Institute of Experimental Morphology and Anthropology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, G. Bonchev Street Block 25, 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Mariana Bakalska & Nina Atanassova

  6. Institute of Histology and Embryology, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Šalata 3b, 1000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Davor Ježek

  7. Institute for Hormone and Fertility Research, University of Hamburg, Falkenried 88, 20251, Hamburg, Germany

    Dieter Müller

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  1. Michail S. Davidoff
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  2. Hendrik Ungefroren
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  3. Ralf Middendorff
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  4. Yvetta Koeva
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  5. Mariana Bakalska
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  7. Adolf F. Holstein
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  8. Davor Ježek
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  9. Wolfgang Pusch
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  10. Dieter Müller
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Correspondence to Michail S. Davidoff.

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Davidoff, M.S., Ungefroren, H., Middendorff, R. et al. Catecholamine-synthesizing enzymes in the adult and prenatal human testis. Histochem Cell Biol 124, 313–323 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-005-0024-x

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