Spermatogenesis is a major process in testis occurring from puberty through life span of males. The tyrosine phosphorylation is assumed to play roles in spermatogenesis because this process is important for cell proliferations, divisions, and differentiations. However, the localizations and identifications of phosphorylated proteins in testicular tissue of adult male rats are still unclear. Therefore, this study attempted to immuno-localize and identify such proteins in testicular tissues of Sprague-Dawley rats. The monoclonal anti-phosphotyrosine (clone 4G10) was used to probe tyrosine phosphorylated proteins and also to examine the expression of such proteins using immuno-Western blotting in rat testis. The result showed that positive reactivity of tyrosine phosphorylated proteins was clearly observed in interstitial endocrine cells (Leydig cells), sustentocytes (Sertoli cells), spermatogonia, spermatocytes, and spermatids (round and elongated), respectively. The expressions of testicular tyrosine phosphorylated proteins were 200, 131, 93, 70, 60, and 48 kDas, respectively. In conclusion, testicular tyrosine phosphorylated proteins were localized in both germinal epithelium and interstitial endocrine cells of adult Sprague-Dawley rats.
KEY WORDS: Localization; Identification; Tyrosine phosphorylated proteins; Testis; Rats.
