REGULAR ARTICLES

Cell Research (2000), 10, 59--70

g-Aminobutyric acid transporter (GAT1) overexpression in mouse affects the testicular morphology

MA Ying Hua¹, Jia Hua HU¹, Xiao Gang ZHOU¹, Zhen Tong MEI², Jian FEI^1,*, Li He GUO^1,*
¹ Shanghai Institute of Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai 200031, China
² Shanghai Institute of Physiology, Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai 200031, China

ABSTRACT
g-Aminobutyric acid and GABAergic receptors were previously reported to be distributed in reproductive systems besides CNS and predicted to participate in the modulation of testicular function. g-Aminobutyric acid transporter was implicated to be involved in this process. However, the potential role of g-aminobutyric transporter in testis has not been explored. In this study, we investigated the existence of mouse g-aminobutyric acid transporter subtype I (mGAT1) in testis. Wild-type and transgenic mice, which overexpressing mGAT1 in a variety of tissues, especially in testis, were primarily studied to approach the profile of mGAT1 in testis. Mice with overexpressed mGAT1 develop normally but with reduced mass and size of testis as compared with wild-type. Testicular morphology of transgenic mice exhibited overt abnormalities including focal damage of the spermatogenic epithelium accompanied by capillaries proliferation and increased diameter of seminiferous tubules lumen. Reduced number of spermatids was also found in some seminiferous tubules. Our results clearly demonstrate the presence of GAT1 in mouse testis and imply that GAT1 is possibly involved in testicular function.

Key words: g-aminobutyric acid transporter, testicular morphology, mouse.

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