Multinucleated cells are involved in normal development and apoptosis in mouse testes

Luo,Lan; Li,Yuhong; Yang,Yuling; He,Yongshu; Wang,Yin; Xu,Zhongyi; Zhang,Yan

doi:10.3892/mmr.2013.1568

Multinucleated cells are involved in normal development and apoptosis in mouse testes

Authors:
- Lan Luo
- Yuhong Li
- Yuling Yang
- Yongshu He
- Yin Wang
- Zhongyi Xu
- Yan Zhang
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Affiliations: Department of Cell Biology and Medical Genetics, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, P.R. China, Laboratory of Cranial Cerebral Disease, Department of Neurobiology of Basic Medical College, Center of Scientific Technology, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia 750004, P.R. China
Published online on: July 3, 2013 https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2013.1568
Pages: 865-870

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Abstract

Multinucleated cells are present in impaired spermatogenesis and in the senescent testis. Following accumulating evidence from our previous studies on the identification of multinucleated cells during normal testicle development, the current study further investigated the possible mechanism and role of these multinucleated cells. Healthy male Kunming mice were used in the present study. The association between multinucleated cells and cell apoptosis were analyzed using TUNEL analysis and immunohistochemistry. The results showed that multinucleated cells are widespread in the testicular tissue of seminiferous tubules on postnatal days 23, 27, 30, 33, 36, 40, 47, 50 and 54 suggesting that these cells are involved in the process of normal development of mouse testis. Histochemical analysis revealed a lack of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, cyclin D1 protein expression in multinucleated cells, suggesting that these cells are not involved in the G1 and S phases of the cell cycle and cell proliferation. Increased expression of Bax and caspase 3 was detected, revealing that multinucleated cells may be associated with cell apoptosis during testicular development. To the best of our knowledge, this study demonstrated for the first time that multinucleated cells are present during normal testicular development and may be associated with spermatogonial stem cell apoptosis. Therefore, multinucleated cells may be important in the spermatogenesis process.

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