Morphology and immunolocalization of intertubular steroidogenic cell in mesonephros of Podocnemis expansa during gonadal differentiation

Sex steroid hormones are critical in gonadal differentiation in turtles. The gonads are not the only organs responsible for producing these hormones during this phase. Mesonephros play an important role in steroidogenesis. The present study aimed to investigate the presence of steroidogenic cells in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Animal reproduction Vol. 19; no. 3; p. e20220011
Main Authors:	Macêdo, Luã Barbalho de, Magalhães, Marcela dos Santos, Dias, Lucas Castanhola, Lemos, Khelven Klay de Azevedo, Borges, Ryshely Sonaly de Moura, Saraiva, Márcia Viviane Alves, Oliveira, Moacir Franco de, Assis Neto, Antônio Chaves de, Moura, Carlos Eduardo Bezerra de
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Colégio Brasileiro de Reprodução Animal 01-01-2022
Subjects:	BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY Short Communication aromatase turtle sex determination reproduction
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Summary:	Sex steroid hormones are critical in gonadal differentiation in turtles. The gonads are not the only organs responsible for producing these hormones during this phase. Mesonephros play an important role in steroidogenesis. The present study aimed to investigate the presence of steroidogenic cells in mesonephros of Podocnemis expansa during gonadal differentiation and to evaluate their morphology and ultrastructure. Ten embryos of P. expansa were collected from 5 nests on day 36 of incubation, during spawning period on an artificial beach. Embryos were extracted from eggs by slicing the shell and euthanized. They were dissected under a stereoscopic microscope to collect the gonad-mesonephro complex, in which were fixed and subsequently processed for light microscopy, immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy analysis. During histological analysis was observed mesonephros has typical morphological structure. Immunohistochemistry showed immunoreaction to aromatase in cells of intertubular space. Confirming these findings, it was possible to observe a type of intertubular cell in several regions of mesonephro, being more predominant in region close to blood vessels, distal and proximal tubules. In ultrastructural analysis these cells were characterized by having a clear, large, and rounded nucleus with evident nucleolus and cytoplasm rich in electron-dense droplets. This study demonstrated for the first time the presence of cells with morphological, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural characteristics similar to steroid-producing cells in P. expansa mesonephrons, suggesting that this organ may contribute to gonadal differentiation in this species.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Conflicts of interest: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare. Author contributions: LBM: Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing; MSM: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing; LCD: Formal analysis, Methodology; KKAL and RSMB: Investigation, Visualization; MVAS: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing; MFO: Supervision, Methodology, Writing – review & editing; ACAN: Validation, Resources, Writing – review & editing; CEBM: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
ISSN:	1806-9614 1984-3143 1984-3143
DOI:	10.1590/1984-3143-ar2022-0011