| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,600,000)
Fiscal Year 1988: ¥400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000)
Fiscal Year 1987: ¥3,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Injection of a testis homogenate emulsified in FCA could induce sperm-agglutinating antibodies in the serum of Nile tilapia, oreochromis niloticus. The serum sperm-agglutinating titers reached a peak 1 month after immunization and remained relatively high throughout the experiment lasting for 8 months. Injections of mature testis or spermatozoa into maturing males elicited a series of cellular immune responses specific to testis beginning from 2 months after immunization. Monocytes and lymphocytes first infiltrated into interspaces between efferent ducts, then disrupted the wall of the ducts and invaded into lumina of the efferent ducts and seminal lobules where the monocytes differentiated finally into macrophages to phagocytose free spermatozoa. Cysts of spermatogenetic cells including spermatids, and testicular somatic elements as well, were exempted from the attack of immune cells. Giant cell granulomas were developed in the lobule lumen 3-4 months after immunization, with no delet
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erious effect on spermatogenesis. The pathological changes in the testis became weaker than before from 5 months on, notwithstanding that serum sperm-agglutinating titers were still retained at high levels. A tracer HRP injected into normal male tilapia could penetrate into germ cell cysts except those of late spermatids, but could not enter into lumina of efferent ducts and seminal lobules. Another tracer BSA could not penetrate even into any germ cell cyst. By electron microscopic analyses it was confirmed that both the basement membrane surrounding seminal lobules and the junctional complex between Sertoli cells acted as barriers against these tracers. The blood-testis barrier composed of the junctional complex was always complete on the adluminal side, but was not established on the cyst wall facing the basement membrane until spermatids in the cyst had developed to the middle chromatin condensation stage. In the testis 1 month after immunization, both HRP and BSA could penetrate into cysts of every spermatogenetic stage and further into lumina of ducts and lobules. The break down of blood-testis barriers following autoimmunization to testis material was evidenced to occur also by electron microscopy. Less
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