A Functional Role of Estrogen in the Efferent Ductules of the Male Reproductive Tract

173 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002.This study is an explorative examination of the role of estrogen in the efferent ductules (ED) of the male mouse reproductive tract at various biological levels. In spite of knowing the presence of high concentrations of estrogen and the existence of estrogen receptor (ER), ERalpha and ERbeta, in the male reproductive tract, a role for estrogen in the male reproductive tract has not been determined. In this study, the ED were chosen as the investigational tissue due to the localization of the highest level of ERalpha in the male reproductive tract. The first part of this research demonstrates a physiological role of estrogen in the ED, namely regulation of fluid reabsorption in the ED. The second part of this research shows the importance of estrogen in maintaining normal morphology of the ED of adult mice. In the third part of this study, it is clearly shown that estrogen regulates fluid reabsorption in the ED by modulating expression of various ion transporter and producer genes in epithelia of the ED of adult mice. Along with these roles of estrogen in the ED of adult mice, the last part of this study demonstrates that estrogen via the ERalpha is involved in regulation of gene expression of ion transporters in the ED of postnatally developing mice. Findings from this study indicate that the presence of functional ERalpha in the ED of adult mice, as well as developing mice, is required for proper regulation of fluid reabsorption by estrogen in the mouse ED in direct and/or indirect ways. With an increasing awareness of the effect of various environmental estrogenic compounds on human health and reproduction, this study provides evidence that estrogen, in addition to testosterone, is an important factor which participates in regulation of male reproduction.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD