The Sertoli cell: one hundred fifty years of beauty and plasticity

Abstract

SUMMARY It has been one and a half centuries since Enrico Sertoli published the seminal discovery of the testicular ‘nurse cell’, not only a key cell in the testis, but indeed one of the most amazing cells in the vertebrate body. In this review, we begin by examining the three phases of morphological research that have occurred in the study of Sertoli cells, because microscopic anatomy was essentially the only scientific discipline available for about the first 75 years after the discovery. Biochemistry and molecular biology then changed all of biological sciences, including our understanding of the functions of Sertoli cells. Immunology and stem cell biology were not even topics of science in 1865, but they have now become major issues in our appreciation of Sertoli cell’s role in spermatogenesis. We end with the universal importance and plasticity of function by comparing Sertoli cells in fish, amphibians, and mammals. In these various classes of vertebrates, Sertoli cells have quite different modes of proliferation and epithelial maintenance, cystic vs. tubular formation, yet accomplish essentially the same function but in strikingly different ways.

Seminal transferrin in the seminal quality evaluation of hemodialytic patients

“…The practicality and low cost of the ST measurement can be attractive for the initial evaluation of semen quality in patients undergoing HD with suspected subfertility/infertility. ST is an isoform of the human transferrin family that is found abundantly in human seminal plasma; it is produced and secreted (80%) by Sertoli cells (3). It is sensitive to systemic and site inflammatory changes, and is involved in transport of iron ions in the systemic or site compartments (4).…”

Immune-Endocrine Interactions in the Fish Gonad during Infection: An Open Door to Vertical Transmission

“…The pre-meiotic germ cells and all the vascular endothelium, including Leydig cells, are located on the exterior of the barrier. The development of germ cells involves the continuous disassembly and reassembly of this barrier, which is tightly controlled by several signaling pathways involving hormones and cytokines (reviewed by [23,26,27]). Several viruses have been demonstrated to disrupt the blood-testis barrier and are able to colonize the specialized environment in which the admission of antiviral molecules is highly restricted by means of the restrictive paracellular and transcellular diffusion of molecules, creating a reservoir tissue to hide the virus and evade the immune response [28,29].…”

Bisphenol A and Male Reproductive System

“…The BTB separates the seminiferous epithelium into the basal and adluminal (apical) compartment (79). Spermatogenesis is a very complex, dynamic and organized process occurring in the seminiferous tubules epithelium (81).…”