Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
10
pubmed:dateCreated
2006-9-18
pubmed:abstractText
Androgens play a vital role in Wolffian duct (WD) development, but the mechanisms that underlie this are unknown. The present study used in utero exposure of pregnant rats to the androgen receptor antagonist flutamide (50 or 100 mg/kg) to explore possible mechanisms. Pregnant rats were treated from embryonic d 15.5 (E15.5), and WDs were isolated from fetuses from E17.5-E21.5 and from adults. WD morphology was evaluated, and total length of the duct lumen was determined in fetal samples. Fetal WDs were immunostained for androgen receptor and stromal (inner and outer) and/or epithelial-cell-specific markers and analyzed for cell proliferation and apoptosis. In adulthood, most flutamide-exposed males lacked proximal WD-derived tissues, whereas at E18.5-E19.5, a time when the WD has completely regressed in females, a complete normal WD was present in all flutamide-exposed animals. This suggests that flutamide, at doses of 50 or 100 mg/kg, interferes with WD differentiation, not stabilization. Consistent with this, WD elongation/coiling increased in controls by 204% between E19.5 and E21.5 but increased less significantly (103%) in flutamide-exposed animals. This was associated with reduced cell proliferation, but there was no increase in apoptosis or change in expression of androgen receptor mRNA or protein. Flutamide treatment impaired differentiation of inner stromal cells, shown by decreased expression of smooth muscle actin, before effects were noted in the epithelium, consistent with androgens driving WD development via stromal-epithelial interactions. In conclusion, WD differentiation is far more susceptible to blockade of androgen action than is its initial stabilization, and these effects may be mediated by disruption of stromal-epithelial interactions.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
AIM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Oct
pubmed:issn
0013-7227
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
147
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
4820-30
pubmed:dateRevised
2008-9-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Androgen Antagonists, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Androgens, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Animals, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Apoptosis, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Blotting, Western, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Cell Differentiation, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Cell Proliferation, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Cell Size, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Epithelial Cells, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Female, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Fluorescent Antibody Technique, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Flutamide, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Genitalia, Male, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Immunohistochemistry, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Male, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Mitosis, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Pregnancy, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Rats, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Rats, Wistar, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Receptors, Androgen, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Stromal Cells, pubmed-meshheading:16809447-Wolffian Ducts
pubmed:year
2006
pubmed:articleTitle
Androgen-dependent mechanisms of Wolffian duct development and their perturbation by flutamide.
pubmed:affiliation
MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit, Centre for Reproductive Biology, The Queen's Medical Research Institute, 47 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, Scotland, United Kingdom. m.welsh@hrsu.mrc.ac.uk
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't