Expression Patterns ofSuperoxide DismutaseGenes in the Stage-specific Seminiferous Tubules of Mice Excised by a Laser Capture Microdissection

Abstract

Spermatogenesis is a particularly difficult process to study the unique multiple cellular associations within the seminiferous epithelium. Laser capture microdissection (LCM) is a recently developed technique that enables the isolation of individual cell populations from complex tissues. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) is the first and most important enzyme of antioxidant defense systems against superoxide anion. The aim of this study was to investigate the quantitative changes of SOD gene expression according to the spermatogenic cycle in mouse testes using LCM and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques. Frozen sections (10 μm) were obtained from the testes of 8-weeks-old ICR mice. LCM was used to capture all cells in cross-sectioned seminiferous tubules which were grouped into stages Ⅰ-Ⅴ, ⅦⅧ, and Ⅸ-ⅩⅠ. The expression level of cytoplasmic Cu, Zn-SOD (SOD1) mRNA was remarkably higher than those of mitochondrial Mn-SOD (SOD2) and extracellular Cu, Zn-SOD (SOD3) mRNAs in mouse testes. During spermatogenesis, the expressions of SOD1 and SOD2 mRNAs were highest on stages I-V, began to decrease after stage Ⅶ, and showed a lowest level on stage Ⅸ-ⅩⅠ. However, the expression of SOD3 mRNA was highest on stages Ⅶ-Ⅷ. These findings suggest that the subtypes of SOD are expressed differentially in mouse testes during spermatogenesis.