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C. Yan Cheng
Rockefeller University

About this book

In the past thirty years, significant advances have been made in the field of reproductive biology in unlocking the molecular and biochemical events that regulate spermatogenesis in the mammalian testis. It was possible because of the unprecedented breakthroughs in molecular biology, cell biology, immunology, and biochemistry. I am fortunate to have personally witnessed such rapid changes in the field since I was a graduate student and a postdoctoral fellow in the late 1970s through the early 1980s. In this book entitled, Molecular Mechanisms in Spermatogenesis, I have included a collection of chapters written by colleagues on the latest development in the field using genomic and proteomic approaches to study spermatogenesis, as well as different mechanisms and/or molecules including environmental toxicants and transcription factors that regulate and/or affect spermatogenesis. The book begins with a chapter that provides the basic concept of cellular regulation of spermatogenesis. A few chapters are also dedicated to some of the latest findings on the Sertoli cell cytoskeleton and other molecules (e.g., proteases, adhesion proteins) that regulate spermatogenesis. These chapters contain thought-provoking discussions and concepts which shall be welcomed by investigators in the field. It is obvious that many of these concepts will be updated and some may be amended in the years to come. However, they will serve as a guide and the basis for investigation by scientists in the field. Due to the page limit, I could not cover all areas of interest in this monograph; instead, I tried to present this subject area with a balanced approach.

Table of contents

1. Spermatogenesis and Cycle of the Seminiferous Epithelium
Rex A. Hess and Luiz Renato de Franca

2. Testicular Development and Spermatogenesis: Harvesting
the Postgenomics Bounty
Antoine D. Rolland, Bernard Jégou and Charles Pineau

3. Estrogens and Spermatogenesis
Chandrima Shaha

4. Selenium, a Key Element in Spermatogenesis and Male Fertility
Carla Boitani and Rossella Puglisi

5. Extracellular Matrix and Its Role in Spermatogenesis
Michelle K.Y. Siu and C. Yan Cheng

6. Inflammatory Networks in the Control of Spermatogenesis:
Chronic Inflammation in an Immunologically Privileged Tissue?
Moira K. O’Bryan and Mark P. Hedger

7. Transcription Regulation in Spermatogenesis
Wing-Yee Lui and C. Yan Cheng

8. Proteases and Their Cognate Inhibitors of the Serine and Metalloprotease
Subclasses, in Testicular Physiology
Brigitte Le Magueresse-Battistoni

9. Antioxidant Systems and Oxidative Stress in the Testes
R. John Aitken and Shaun D. Roman

10. Nitric Oxide and Cyclic Nucleotides: Their Roles in Junction Dynamics
and Spermatogenesis
Nikki P.Y. Lee and C. Yan Cheng

11. The Sertoli Cell Cytoskeleton
A. Wayne Vogl, Kuljeet S. Vaid and Julian A. Guttman

12. Blood‑Testis Barrier, Junctional and Transport Proteins
and Spermatogenesis
Brian P. Setchell

13. Cross-Talk between Tight and Anchoring Junctions—
Lesson from the Testis
Helen H.N. Yan, Dolores D. Mruk, Will M. Lee and C. Yan Cheng

14. The Role of the Leydig Cell in Spermatogenic Function
Renshan Ge, Guorong Chen and Matthew P. Hardy