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| Expression Pattern of AR in Epididymal Tissue Development of Congjiang Xiang Pig (Sus scrofa) |
| MENG Li-Jie1,2, WANG Wei-Yong1,2, XU Yong-Jian1,2, LI Zi-Qing1,2, WAN Su-Fang1,2, MU Qi1,2, YANG Yi1,2, GONG Ting1,2,* |
1 Key Laboratory of Plateau Mountainous Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University/Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Guizhou Province, Guiyang 550025, China;
2 College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China |
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Abstract Epididymis serves as a main site for sperm transportation, maturation and storage, and its structure and function maintenance as well as gene expression extremely depend on the regulation of androgen and androgen receptor (AR). AR is highly expressed in epididymis of many animals and regulates the function of epididymal epithelium and lumen fluid, which is important for sperm maturation. The purpose of this study was to explore the expression characteristics of AR in postnatal epididymis of Congjiang Xiang pig (Sus scrofa). The qRT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and Western blot were used to detect the expression of AR in the epididymis of Congjiang Xiang pigs at 4 development stages of pre-puberty (15 d), in-puberty (30 d), post-puberty (60 d), and sexual maturity (180 d). qRT-PCR results showed that AR was expressed in the epididymis of Congjiang Xiang pigs from postnatal 15 d to 180 d with the increase of age, and reached to the highest expression level at 180 d. In different regions, the expression of AR gene was observed highest in region Ⅳ(epididymal cauda) and the lowest in regionⅠ(epididymal caput) (P<0.05). Although there was no significant difference of AR expression between region Ⅰ and Ⅲ(epididymal corpus), the statistical distinction among other regions was found (P<0.05). Western blot results showed that AR protein expression abundance had the same trend with that of mRNA level in different stages and 5 epididymis regions. Immunohistochemical staining showed that AR was mainly located in the epididymal epithelial cells (nucleus) and spermatozoa, and its expression displayed segment-specific. In conclusion, this study found that the expression of epididymal AR increased from 15 d to 60 d, and then maintained a high level to 180 d; AR mainly distributed in the nucleus of epididymal epithelial cells and spermatozoa. These data indicated that the epididymal AR expression was in a stage- and segment-specific manner. In addition, it was speculated that the high expression of AR at age of 180 d might be related to the existence of a large number of spermatozoa in this period. This study provides reference for further exploring the mechanism of sperm maturation in the epididymis of Congjiang Xiang pigs.
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Received: 09 September 2020
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Corresponding Authors:
* tgong@gzu.edu.cn
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