spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online May 24, 2004
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 2209-2213 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01000
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chieffi, P.
Right arrow Articles by Minucci, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Chieffi, P.
Right arrow Articles by Minucci, S.

Environmental influence on testicular MAP kinase (ERK1) activity in the frog Rana esculenta

Paolo Chieffi* and Sergio Minucci

Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, II Università di Napoli, Naples, Italy

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: Paolo.Chieffi{at}unina2.it)

Accepted 24 March 2004

Recent studies suggest a role for ERK1 in the regulation of spermatogonial proliferation. In this report the frog Rana esculenta, a seasonal breeder, was used as a model to study the possible effect on ERK1 of photoperiod and temperature. Adult male R. esculenta were subjected to several combinations of light and temperature at different times of the year to elucidate the regulation of ERK1 testicular activity in the spermatogonial proliferation by these environmental factors.

Western blot analysis shows that under controlled experimental conditions an increase of temperature and photoperiod in November, characterized by a decrease in primary spermatogonial mitosis, induces ERK1 activity and spermatogonial proliferation, as confirmed using the proliferating cellular nuclear antigen (PCNA) as an early molecular marker. In contrast, a decrease in temperature and photoperiod in March, with an increase of primary spermatogonial mitosis, impairs ERK1 activity and spermatogonial proliferation.

In conclusion, our data clearly show for the first time in a non-mammalian vertebrate that the temperature and the photoperiod exert a role in the spermatogonial proliferation via ERK1 activity.

Key words: ERK1, spermatogenesis, photoperiod, proliferation, frog, Rana esculenta






© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2004