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Vertebrate reproductive science and technology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effects of cold-inducible RNA-binding protein on the proliferation and apoptosis of spermatogenic cells in vitro following heat stress

Guiping Cheng https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0143-8114 A * , Dandan Ke A B * , Meng Rao A C * , Shifu Hu A , Yingying Wang A , Fang Zhou A , Heyu Liu A , Changhong Zhu A D and Wei Xia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7462-2342 A D E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Family Planning Research Institute, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 13 Hang-kong Road, Wuhan 430030, China.

B Department of Obstetrics and Gynecological Ultrasound Imaging, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, No. 99 Zhang zhidong Road, No. 238 Jiefang Road, Wuhan 430060, China.

C Department of Reproduction and Genetics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, No. 295 Xichang Road, Kunming 650032, China.

D Reproductive Medicine Center, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 128 Sanyang Road, Wuhan 430010, China.

E Corresponding author. Email: tjxiawei@hust.edu.cn

Reproduction, Fertility and Development 31(5) 953-961 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD18469
Submitted: 30 August 2018  Accepted: 21 December 2018   Published: 12 February 2019

Abstract

Cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRBP) is reduced by scrotal hyperthermia in cryptorchidism, varicocoele and heat treatment, but there is no direct evidence clarifying the relationship between CIRBP and spermatogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of CIRBP in GC2-spd cells (a mouse spermatocyte cell line) before and after heat treatment, and to determine the effects of the downregulation or overexpression of CIRBP on spermatocyte cell proliferation and apoptosis. GC2-spd cells overexpressing CIRBP and GC2-spd cells in CIRBP was knocked down were constructed to investigate the function of CIRBP in cell proliferation and apoptosis using a cell counting kit-8 and flow cytometry respectively. In addition, proliferation and apoptosis were evaluated in GC2-spd cells that had been heated for 30 or 60 min, and were analysed 12, 24, and 48 h after heat treatment. Heat treatment clearly suppressed the proliferation of GC2-spd cells, and upregulation of CIRBP expression in GC2-spd cells promoted cell proliferation and decreased apoptosis before and after heat stress; in contrast, downregulation of CIRBP expression inhibited cell proliferation and increased apoptosis. These findings suggest that CIRBP exerts a protective effect against spermatogenic injury caused by heat stress.

Additional keywords: CIRBP, spermatocytes.


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