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Despite numerous female contraceptive options, nearly half of all pregnancies are unintended. Family planning choices for men are currently limited to unreliable condoms and invasive vasectomies with questionable reversibility. Here, we report the development of an oral contraceptive approach based on transcriptional disruption of cyclical gene expression patterns during spermatogenesis. Spermatogenesis involves a continuous series of self-renewal and differentiation programs of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) that is regulated by retinoic acid (RA)-dependent activation of receptors (RARs), which control target gene expression through association with corepressor proteins. We have found that the interaction between RAR and the corepressor silencing mediator of retinoid and thyroid hormone receptors (SMRT) is essential for spermatogenesis. In a genetically engineered mouse model that negates SMRT-RAR binding (SMRTmRID mice), the synchronized, cyclic expression of RAR-dependent genes along the seminiferous tubules is disrupted. Notably, the presence of an RA-resistant SSC population that survives RAR de-repression suggests that the infertility attributed to the loss of SMRT-mediated repression is reversible. Supporting this notion, we show that inhibiting the action of the SMRT complex with chronic, low-dose oral administration of a histone deacetylase inhibitor reversibly blocks spermatogenesis and fertility without affecting libido. This demonstration validates pharmacologic targeting of the SMRT repressor complex for non-hormonal male contraception.

Cellular identity is established by genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors that regulate organogenesis and tissue homeostasis. Although some flexibility in fate potential is beneficial to overall organ health, dramatic changes in cellular identity can have disastrous consequences. Emerging data within the field of pancreas biology are revising current beliefs about how cellular identity is shaped by developmental and environmental cues under homeostasis and stress conditions. Here, we discuss the changes occurring in cellular states upon fate modulation and address how our understanding of the nature of this fluidity is shaping therapeutic approaches to pancreatic disorders such as diabetes and cancer.

Normal tissue architecture is disrupted following injury, as resident tissue cells become damaged and immune cells are recruited to the site of injury. While injury and inflammation are critical to tissue remodeling, the inability to resolve this response can lead to the destructive complications of chronic inflammation. In the pancreas, acinar cells of the exocrine compartment respond to injury by transiently adopting characteristics of progenitor cells present during embryonic development. This process of de-differentiation creates a window where a mature and stable cell gains flexibility and is potentially permissive to changes in cellular fate. How de-differentiation can turn an acinar cell into another cell type (such as a pancreatic β-cell), or a cell with cancerous potential (as in cases of deregulated Kras activity) is of interest to both the regenerative medicine and cancer communities. While it is known that inflammation and acinar de-differentiation increase following pancreatic injury, it remains unclear which immune cells are involved in this process. We used a combination of genetically modified mice, immunological blockade and cellular characterization to identify the immune cells that impact pancreatic regeneration in an in vivo model of pancreatitis. We identified the innate inflammatory response of macrophages and neutrophils as regulators of pancreatic regeneration. Under normal conditions, mild innate inflammation prompts a transient de-differentiation of acinar cells that readily dissipates to allow normal regeneration. However, non-resolving inflammation developed when elevated pancreatic levels of neutrophils producing interferon-γ increased iNOS levels and the pro-inflammatory response of macrophages. Pancreatic injury improved following in vivo macrophage depletion, iNOS inhibition as well as suppression of iNOS levels in macrophages via interferon-γ blockade, supporting the impairment in regeneration and the development of chronic inflammation arises from aberrant activation of the innate inflammatory response. Collectively these studies identify targetable inflammatory factors that can be used to influence the development of non-resolving inflammation and pancreatic regeneration following injury.

Despite numerous female contraceptive options, nearly half of all pregnancies are unintended. Family planning choices for men are currently limited to unreliable condoms and invasive vasectomies with questionable reversibility. Here, we report the development of an oral contraceptive approach based on transcriptional disruption of cyclical gene expression patterns during spermatogenesis. Spermatogenesis involves a continuous series of self-renewal and differentiation programs of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) that is regulated by retinoic acid (RA)-dependent activation of receptors (RARs), which control target gene expression through association with corepressor proteins. We have found that the interaction between RAR and the corepressor silencing mediator of retinoid and thyroid hormone receptors (SMRT) is essential for spermatogenesis. In a genetically engineered mouse model that negates SMRT-RAR binding (SMRTmRID mice), the synchronized, cyclic expression of RAR-dependent genes along the seminiferous tubules is disrupted. Notably, the presence of an RA-resistant SSC population that survives RAR de-repression suggests that the infertility attributed to the loss of SMRT-mediated repression is reversible. Supporting this notion, we show that inhibiting the action of the SMRT complex with chronic, low-dose oral administration of a histone deacetylase inhibitor reversibly blocks spermatogenesis and fertility without affecting libido. This demonstration validates pharmacologic targeting of the SMRT repressor complex for non-hormonal male contraception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report an improved tandem mass spectrometric assay for retinoic acid (RA) applicable to in vitro and in vivo biological samples. This liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometric (LC/MS/MS) assay for direct RA quantification is the most sensitive to date, with a 62.5 attomol lower limit of detection and a linear range spanning greater than 4 orders of magnitude (from 250 attomol to 10 pmol). This assay resolves all-trans-RA (atRA) from its endogenous geometric isomers, is applicable to samples of limited size (10-20 mg of tissue), and functions with complex biological matrixes. Coefficients of variation are as follows: instrumental, [less than or equal to] 2.6%; intraday, 5.2% [+ or -] 0.7%; interday, 6.7% [+ or -] 0.9%. In vitro capabilities are demonstrated by quantification of endogenous RA and RA production (from retinol) in primary cultured astrocytes. Quantification of endogenous atRA and its geometric isomers in 129SV mouse serum and tissues (liver, kidney, adipose, muscle, spleen, testis, and brain) reveals in vivo utility of the assay. The ability to discriminate spatial concentrations of RA in vivo is illustrated with C57BL/6 mouse brain loci (hippocampus, cortex, olfactory bulb, thalamus, cerebellum, and striaturn), as well as with Lewis rat proximal/distal mammary gland regions during various morphological stages: virgin, early pregnancy (e7), late pregnancy (e20), lactating (day 4), involuting day 1, and involuting day 11. This assay provides the sensitivity necessary for direct, endogenous RA quantification necessary to elucidate RA function, e.g., in neurogenesis, morphogenesis, and the contribution of altered RA homeostasis to diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cancer.

All-trans-retinoic acid (atRA) supports embryonic development, central nervous system function, and the immune response. atRA initiates neurogenesis and dendritic growth in the hippocampus and is required for spatial memory; superphysiological atRA inhibits neurogenesis, causes teratology and/or embryo toxicity, and alters cognitive function and behavior. Because abnormal atRA shares pathological conditions with alcoholism, inhibition of retinol (vitamin A) activation into atRA has been credited widely as a mechanism of ethanol toxicity. Here, we analyze the effects of ethanol on retinoid concentrations in vivo during normal vitamin A nutriture, using sensitive and analytically robust assays. Ethanol either increased or had no effect on atRA, regardless of changes in retinol and retinyl esters. Acute ethanol (3.5 g/kg) increased atRA in adult hippocampus (1.6-fold), liver (2.4-fold), and testis (1.5-fold). Feeding dams a liquid diet with 6.5% ethanol from embryonic day 13 (e13) to e19 increased atRA in fetal hippocampus (up to 20-fold) and cortex (up to 50-fold), depending on blood alcohol content. One-month feeding of the 6.5% ethanol diet increased atRA in adult hippocampus (20-fold), cortex (2-fold), testis (2-fold), and serum (10-fold). Tissue-specific increases in retinoid dehydrogenase mRNAs and activities, extrahepatic retinol concentrations, and atRA catabolism combined to produce site-specific effects. Because a sustained increase in atRA has deleterious effects on the central nervous system and embryo development, these data suggest that superphysiological atRA contributes to ethanol pathological conditions, including cognitive dysfunction and fetal alcohol syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]