Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
Epididymis is a novel site of erythropoietin production in mouse reproductive organs
Section snippets
Materials and methods
Animals. Animals were maintained and handled in accordance with the guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals at Kyoto University. Unless otherwise indicated, 8-week-old outbred mice (35–40 g) of the ICR strain (Japan SLC, Shizuoka, Japan) were used.
Culture of the testis and epididymis. The bilateral testes and epididymides from each mouse were extirpated. One testis or epididymis of mouse was cultured in a 24-well culture plate in medium containing the test substance and the
In vitro production of Epo by the male reproductive organs
The testes and epididymides obtained from 8-week-old mice were cultured and at intervals Epo in the culture media was assayed by the enzyme immunoassay method. The assayable Epo in the media increased in a culture time-dependent manner (Fig. 1). Surprisingly, Epo in the culture media of mouse epididymis is 4-fold higher than that of testis. The presence of a protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide, severely inhibits the appearance of Epo in culture media, indicating that Epo in the culture
Discussion
In this paper we have demonstrated that the epididymis is a primary site of Epo production in mouse reproductive organs, but a physiological function of the epididymal Epo remains to be studied. The main tissue comprising the epididymis is ductus epididymidis, a long and highly convoluted duct. The caput epididymidis is connected to the rete testis via several ductuli efferentes [33]. The caput and corpus are involved in the maturation process of spermatozoa. Spermatozoa leaving the testis are
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants-in-aid from Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of Japan, from the “Research for the Future” program in The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and from Japan Health Sciences Foundation.
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