OBJECTIVE: Apoptosis plays a dominant role in both spontaneous spermatogenesis and germ cell death. This study was aimed to investigate the functions of related genes in testicular germ cell death induced by @entity1862 (HU). METHOD: @entity164 ( @entity164 ) and @entity9699 transgenic (TG) DBA/C57BL @entity19 were intraperitoneal injected with 400   mg/kg HU. Twelve hours later, testes were collected. Histomorphology of testis was observed by staining with @entity5644 Schiff (PAS). Apoptosis was assessed by TUNEL assay. mRNA and protein levels of related genes were evaluated by quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. RESULTS: The 2   *   2 factorial design comparative experiments between the @entity164 and TG @entity19 showed that the TG @entity19 exhibited a higher basal apoptotic index. The basal mRNA levels of Fas and @entity9699 and protein levels of Fas, @entity9699 , @entity185 , @entity4699 and @entity7349 in the TG @entity19 were also higher than that in the @entity164 @entity19 . Twelve hours after injection of HU, the testicular tubules exhibited no significantly morphological changes but apoptosis index remarkably increased in both the @entity164 and TG @entity19 , with the latter having the higher amplitude. Although, HU up-regulated the mRNA of apoptosis-related genes, such as Fas and @entity9699 , in both the TG and @entity164 @entity19 , the increased amplitude was more obvious in the TG @entity19 . By Western blot analysis, apoptosis-related proteins Fas, @entity9699 @entity185 , @entity4699 and @entity7349 were significantly increased in both the @entity164 and TG @entity19 , with the TG @entity19 exhibiting a greater up-regulation. CONCLUSION: Germ cell apoptosis induced by the HU treatment may be related to the @entity9699 -mediated signal transduction pathway.

Studies on the characteristics and mechanisms of testicular toxicity induced by XXXX .

@entity5644 :: ('MESH:D010504', 'Chemical') :: ['Periodic Acid'] @entity1862 :: ('MESH:D006918', 'Chemical') :: ['Hydroxyurea'] @entity19 :: ('10090', 'Species') :: ['mice'] @entity185 :: ('12367(Tax:10090)', 'Gene') :: ['Caspase-3'] @entity7349 :: ('12371(Tax:10090)', 'Gene') :: ['Caspase-9'] @entity4699 :: ('12370(Tax:10090)', 'Gene') :: ['Caspase-8'] @entity164 :: ('MESH:D017827', 'Disease') :: ['WT', 'Wild-type'] @entity9699 :: ('14103(Tax:10090)', 'Gene') :: ['FasL']
@entity1862 :: (MESH:D006918,Chemical) :: ['Hydroxyurea']
