Role of cell polarity and planar cell polarity (PCP) proteins in spermatogenesis

Abstract

Studies on cell polarity proteins and planar cell polarity (PCP) proteins date back to almost 40 years ago in Drosophila and C. elegans when these proteins were shown to be crucial to support apico-basal polarity and also directional alignment of polarity cells across the plane of an epithelium during morphogenesis. In adult mammals, cell polarity and PCP are most notable in cochlear hair cells. However, the role of these two groups of proteins to support spermatogenesis was not explored until a decade earlier when several proteins that confer cell polarity and PCP proteins were identified in the rat testis. Since then, there are several reports appearing in the literature to examine the role of both cell polarity and PCP in supporting spermatogenesis. Herein, we provide an overview regarding the role of cell polarity and PCP proteins in the testis, evaluating these findings in light of studies in other mammalian epithelial cells/tissues. Our goal is to provide a timely evaluation of these findings, and provide some thought provoking remarks to guide future studies based on an evolving concept in the field.

Keywords:

• Testis
• cell polarity
• planar cell polarity
• spermatogenesis
• Sertoli cells, germ cells, ectoplasmic specialization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by grants from the National Institute of Health (NICHD, R01 HD056034 to C.Y.C.), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, 81971367 to L.L.; 81730042 to R.G.), China Shenzhen Science, Technology and Innovative Commission (SZSTI, 20180247 to C.K.C.W.), The National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1003500 to F.S.), and Wenzhou Science & Technology Bureau (Y20190015 to L.L.; Y20190255 to L.Lv).