P4 The peritubular lamina propria testis and male infertility: Elevance of contractility and fibrosis
Project 4 for the first time will study the role of contractile cells known to affect spermatogenesis and to be involved in the transport of spermatozoa from the testis to the epididymis for their contribution to male infertility. In particular, this project focuses on the part played by phosphodiesterases (PDEs) and the cGMP pathway on sperm transport and spermatogenesis.
Peritubular contractile cells (myofibroblasts) of the lamina propria (LP), surrounding germ cells of seminiferous tubules, are crucial for the transport of immature sperm to the epididymis. Moreover, a thickened (fibrotic) LP coincides with disturbed spermatogenesis and infertility. Most recently, we showed that fully differentiated myofibroblasts are present in each tubule, even in case of thickened LP, indicating that disturbed spermatogenesis associated with thickened LP is not due to dedifferentiation of myofibroblasts.