Dissertation
INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF RETINOIC ACID DURING THE ONSET OF SPERMATOGENESIS IN THE MOUSE TESTIS
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2016
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/111128
Abstract
INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF RETINOIC ACID DURING THE ONSET OF
SPERMATOGENESIS IN THE MOUSE TESTIS
Abstract
by Kellie Suzanne Agrimson, Ph.D.
Washington State University
July, 2016
Chair: Michael D. Griswold
The onset of spermatogenesis is a tightly controlled process that takes place within the seminiferous tubules of the neonatal mouse testis. Retinoic acid (RA), the active metabolite of vitamin A, is required for spermatogonial differentiation and to initiate the first round of spermatogenesis that occurs in patches along the length of the tubules. It is imperative that RA signaling is set up this way to ensure continual sperm production throughout the reproductive lifespan of the animal. However, very little is known about the individual differentiating spermatogonial populations and their progression through the cell cycle due to the heterogeneous nature of the onset of spermatogenesis. To better understand the onset, we mapped the cell cycle kinetics of both the undifferentiated and differentiating spermatogonial populations in the neonatal testis and identified the precise timing of when specific individual differentiating spermatogonial populations were enriched within the testis following our synchronization protocol. Additionally, little work has been done to investigate whether RA plays any role during spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) population establishment that occurs in the neonatal testis. To address this, the data presented here was produced by manipulating the levels of RA in the neonatal testis by utilizing WIN 18,446 as a tool to generate testes enriched with undifferentiated spermatogonia. Past studies have demonstrated that RA deficiency results in infertility by halting spermatogenesis during spermatogonial differentiation. Furthermore, if a problem occurs during SSC establishment, infertility likely would result as all sperm produced following the first round of spermatogenesis are derived from the SSC pool. The data presented here indicated that RA, either directly or indirectly, plays a role in the establishment of the SSC population in the neonatal testis as RA deficiency significantly increased the number of SSCs in the testis. Overall, these studies have enhanced our understanding of both the undifferentiated and differentiating spermatogonial populations present in the neonatal testis during the initiation of spermatogenesis and provided insights and tools that could be used to further characterize the SSC population in the mouse testis.
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Details
- Title
- INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF RETINOIC ACID DURING THE ONSET OF SPERMATOGENESIS IN THE MOUSE TESTIS
- Creators
- Kellie Suzanne Agrimson
- Contributors
- Michael Griswold (Advisor)Michael Griswold (Committee Member)Jon Oatley (Advisor)Jon Oatley (Committee Member)Patricia Hunt (Committee Member)Jennifer Watts (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Molecular Biosciences, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 196
- Identifiers
- 99900581722501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation