Abstract
Androgen and the androgen receptor (AR) have been shown to play critical roles in male fertility. Our previous data demonstrated that mice lacking AR (AR-/y) revealed incomplete germ cell development and lowered serum testosterone levels, which resulted in azoospermia and infertility. However, the consequences of AR loss in Leydig cells remain largely unknown. Using a Cre-LoxP conditional knockout strategy, we generated a tissue-specific knockout mouse (L-AR-/y) with the AR gene deleted by the anti-Müllerian hormone receptor-2 (Amhr2) promoter driven Cre expressed in Leydig cells. Phenotype analyses show that the outside appearance of L-AR-/y mice was indistinguishable from wild type mice (AR+/y), but with atrophied testes and epididymis. L-AR-/y mice were infertile, with spermatogenic arrest predominately at the round spermatid stage and no sperm could be detected in the epididymis. L-AR-/y mice also have lower serum testosterone concentrations and higher serum leuteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone concentrations than AR+/y mice. Further mechanistic studies demonstrated that hypotestosteronemia in L-AR-/y mice is not caused by reducing numbers of Leydig cells, but instead by the alterations of several key steroidogenic enzymes, including 17β-HSD3, 3β-HSD6, and P450c17. Together, L-AR-/y mice provide in vivo evidence that functional AR in Leydig cells is essential to maintain normal spermatogenesis, testosterone production, and required for normal male fertility.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 96-106 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Endocrine |
Volume | 32 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2007 |
Keywords
- Androgen receptor
- Leydig cell
- Spermatogenesis
- Steroidogenesis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
- Endocrinology