Pigment epithelium derived factor (PEDF) expression in the male tract of Wistar rats

CONTE MI; CABRILLANA ME; FUNES A.; SAEZ LANCELLOTTI E; SIMON L.; CAYADO N; TAGLE DELGADO ME; VINCENTI A.; LOPEZ ME; PIETROBON E; FORNES MW; MONCLUS M,

BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2018 vol. 504 p. 257 - 262

0006-291X

Pigment epithelium derived factor (PEDF) expression has been described in many organs as showing neurotrophic,anti-angiogenic, anti-apoptotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and pro-cell survival properties.However, references to its activity in the male reproductive system are scarce. We aimed to characterize theexpression of PEDF in the male reproductive tract of Wistar rats by using RT-PCR, western blot and immunostainingand also evaluate the effect of flutamide in PEDF expression. We found that PEDF is expressedin the epididymis, prostate and seminal vesicles in Wistar rats, but notably not in the testes. Under the effect offlutamide PEDF expression decreased, recovering by suppressing the antiandrogen. The epididymis is an essentialorgan in sperm maturation-storages. The role of PEDF in this physiological process has not been fullyelucidated yet, but considering that in other systems PEDF has anti-apoptotic, anti-oxidants and pro-cell survivalproperties, its expression along the epididymis could play a role in the protection of spermatozoa whilethey are stored