Yanyun Luo, Makiko Yamada, Thierry N'Tumba-Byn, Hana Asif, Meng Gao, Yang Hu, Pauline Marangoni, Ying Liu, Todd Evans, Shahin Rafii, Ophir D Klein, Henning U Voss, Anna-Katerina Hadjantonakis, Olivier Elemento, Laura A Martin, Marco Seandel
Niche-derived growth factors support self-renewal of mouse spermatogonial stem and progenitor cells through ERK MAPK signaling and other pathways. At the same time, dysregulated growth factor-dependent signaling has been associated with loss of stem cell activity and aberrant differentiation. We hypothesized that growth factor signaling through the ERK MAPK pathway in spermatogonial stem cells is tightly regulated within a narrow range through distinct intracellular negative feedback regulators. Evaluation of candidate extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-responsive genes known to dampen downstream signaling revealed robust induction of specific negative feedback regulators, including Spry4, in cultured mouse spermatogonial stem cells in response to glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor or fibroblast growth factor 2...
October 13, 2023: Biology of Reproduction