The PDGF signaling pathway controls multiple steroid-producing lineages
Abstract
The platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) signaling pathway regulates numerous lineages of mesenchymal cell origin during development and in the adult. The transcriptional targets of this pathway have been shown to be required in several PDGF-dependent processes, but the roles of these targets in specific tissues is just beginning to be identified. In this study, we show that five different PDGF target genes are essential for male and/or female fertility. Mutations in each of these five different genes lead to defects in the steroid-producing cells in the testis and/or ovary and altered hormone production, suggesting that the PDGF pathway controls steroidogenesis through these genes in both sexes. Furthermore, conditional mutations of both PDGF receptors revealed a requirement in steroid-producing cells in multiple organs, including the testis, ovary, and adrenal cortex. Therefore, PDGF signaling may constitute a common mechanism in the control of multiple steroidogenic lineages.
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Footnotes
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↵1 Present addresses:
↵1 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA;
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↵2 Broad Institute, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA:
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↵3 Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA.
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↵4 Corresponding author.
↵4 E-MAIL philippe.soriano{at}mssm.edu; FAX (212) 860-9279.
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Supplemental material is available at http://www.genesdev.org.
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Article is online at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.1723908.
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- Received August 2, 2008.
- Accepted October 8, 2008.
- Copyright © 2008, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
