Anchoring Junctions As Drug Targets: Role in Contraceptive Development
Open Access
- 15 May 2008
- journal article
- review article
- Published by American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) in Pharmacological Reviews
- Vol. 60 (2), 146-180
- https://doi.org/10.1124/pr.107.07105
Abstract
In multicellular organisms, cell-cell interactions are mediated in part by cell junctions, which underlie tissue architecture. Throughout spermatogenesis, for instance, preleptotene leptotene spermatocytes residing in the basal compartment of the seminiferous epithelium must traverse the blood-testis barrier to enter the adluminal compartment for continued development. At the same time, germ cells must also remain attached to Sertoli cells, and numerous studies have reported extensive restructuring at the Sertoli-Sertoli and Sertoli-germ cell interface during germ cell movement across the seminiferous epithelium. Furthermore, the proteins and signaling cascades that regulate adhesion between testicular cells have been largely delineated. These findings have unveiled a number of potential “druggable” targets that can be used to induce premature release of germ cells from the seminiferous epithelium, resulting in transient infertility. Herein, we discuss a novel approach with the aim of developing a nonhormonal male contraceptive for future human use, one that involves perturbing adhesion between Sertoli and germ cells in the testis.Keywords
This publication has 189 references indexed in Scilit:
- Twist is a transcriptional repressor of E-cadherin gene expression in breast cancerBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2008
- Protocadherin family: diversity, structure, and functionCurrent Opinion in Cell Biology, 2007
- Diseases of epidermal keratins and their linker proteinsExperimental Cell Research, 2007
- GTP‐binding proteins of the Rho/Rac family: regulation, effectors and functions in vivoBioEssays, 2007
- p120-catenin: Past and presentBiochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell Research, 2007
- Transcriptional regulation of the FSH receptor: New perspectivesMolecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 2007
- Ectoplasmic specialization: a friend or a foe of spermatogenesis?BioEssays, 2006
- Catenins: Keeping Cells from Getting Their Signals CrossedDevelopmental Cell, 2006
- Internalization of cationic peptides: the road less (or more?) traveledCellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 2006
- The distribution of drug-efflux pumps, P-gp, BCRP, MRP1 and MRP2, in the normal blood–testis barrier and in primary testicular tumoursEuropean Journal of Cancer, 2004