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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on September 22, 2006
Human Reproduction 2006 21(11):2801-2809; doi:10.1093/humrep/del256
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The high mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 is expressed in the human and rat testis where it may function as an antibacterial factor

Cecilia K. Zetterström*, Mona-Lisa Strand1 and Olle Söder

Department of Woman and Child Health, Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital, Pediatric Endocrinology Unit, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Woman and Child Health, Pediatric Endocrinology Unit, Karolinska Institute and University Hospital (Q2:08), SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: mona-lisa.strand{at}ki.se

* Previously Cecilia K.Jonsson

BACKGROUND: The high mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 (HMGB1) was originally shown to be a nuclear DNA-binding protein that activates transcription and promotes differentiation. More recently, there have been reports that HMGB1 may also function as a pro-inflammatory and antibacterial factor. The aim of this study was to investigate the testicular expression and antibacterial functions of HMGB1 to elucidate a possible role of HMGB1 in the testicular barrier defence against infections. METHODS AND RESULTS: RT–PCR and in situ hybridization revealed high-level testicular expression of HMGB1 mRNA and localization of this expression to the Sertoli cells and germ cells of the human and rat testis. In addition, immunohistochemical examination demonstrated the presence of the corresponding protein in Sertoli cells and spermatogonia in human and rat testes. Western blotting detected abundant amounts of the HMGB1 protein in the interstitial and intratubular fluids of the intact adult rat testis. Finally, the HMGB1 protein purified from both human and rat testis by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) exerted antibacterial activity towards Bacillus megaterium in an inhibition zone assay. CONCLUSION: HMGB1 is expressed by Sertoli cells and germ cells in the mammalian testis. In addition, purified testicular HMGB1 shows antibacterial activity, indicating that this protein may function as a paracrine host defence factor in the testis.

Key words: anti-microbial defence/cytokines/HMGB1/Sertoli cells/testis


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