Short-term in vitro culture of rat fetal testes with all-trans retinoic acid. Rattus norvegicus

Analysis of gene expression and alternate splicing effects of retinoic acid treatment on gestational day 15 rat fetal testes in whole testis culture Retinoic acid exposure in cultured fetal testis has previously been demonstrated to have significant effects on the histology of the fetal testis in multiple species, as well as to alter the meiotic states of germ cells. However, previous experiments have not analyzed the mechanisms by which retinoic acid exposure leads to altered tubulogenesis and loss of seminiferous cord structure. This experiment demonstrated that retinoic acid exposure activated signaling pathways that promote the ovary development program and oppose normal testis development in mid-gestational rat fetal testes. Overall design: Testes were isolated from rats on gestational day 15. A paired design was used in which a single testis from each of six rat fetuses was cultured in 10^-6 M all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), while the contralateral testis was cultured in vehicle (DMSO) media. After 24 h culture, total RNA was isolated, and gene expression and alternate splicing were analyzed using the Affymetrix Clariom D Rat assay.