精子发生中的端粒与端粒酶

Telomere and Telomerase in Spermatogenesis

端粒长度、端粒酶活性在生精细胞分化与增殖的各个阶段各不相同 ,从精原细胞到精子的成熟过程中 ,端粒酶活性的不断下降与端粒长度的依次增加呈负相关 ,在成熟精子细胞和精子中 ,端粒酶活性完全丧失。近年来研究表明 ,在少精子症和生精细胞成熟阻滞的无精子症病人之间 ,睾丸中端粒酶活性表达水平相近。人端粒酶活性、端粒酶逆转录酶为精子发生高度敏感和特异的标志 ,特别对原发性无精子症病人睾丸灶性精子发生的诊断具有重要的临床意义。

Telomere length and telomerase activity were different at various stages of germ cell differentiation. Telomere length was negatively correlated with the telomerase activity during the development of spermatogenesis. Telomerase had no activity in the mature spermatids and spermatozoa. Recent studies showed that the telomerase activity in the patients with oligozoospermia was similar with that in the patients with azoospermia caused by maturation arrest. Human telomerase activity and human telomerase reverse transcriptase were regarded as highly sensitive and highly specific markers of spermatogenesis, which played important roles in diagnosing idiopathic azoospermia and the focal spermatogenesis in testes.