Recent progress in understanding the mechanisms of Leydig cell differentiation.

Recent progress in understanding the mechanisms of Leydig cell differentiation. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2018 Jan 05;: Authors: Inoue M, Baba T, Morohashi KI Abstract Leydig cells in fetal and adult testes play pivotal roles in eliciting male characteristics by producing androgen. Although numerous studies of Leydig cells have been performed, the mechanisms for differentiation of the two cell types (fetal Leydig and adult Leydig cells), their developmental and functional relationship, and their differential characteristics remain largely unclear. Based on recent technical progress in genome-wide analysis and in vitro investigation, novel and fascinating observations concerning the issues above have been obtained. Focusing on fetal and adult Leydig cells, this review summarizes the recent progress that has advanced our understanding of the cells. PMID: 29309805 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Molecular Medicine - Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Tags: Mol Cell Endocrinol Source Type: research