Role of retinoblastoma protein (Rb) in mouse Sertoli cells function

Gene expression profiling study of Sertoli cells (Sc)-specific Retinoblastoma (Rb) knockout (KO) mice. We generated a Sc-specific Rb knockout (Sc-RbKO) line and characterised its testicular phenotype. Sc-RbKO showed a progressive germ cell depletion leading to infertility and Sc dysfunction. We observed that up to 10 days old, Sc-RbKO mice present a phenotype similar to that of their WT siblings. This age was choosen to study the gene expression changes that would eventually lead to the described phenotypical changes. Sc-RbKO testis gene expression was compared to WT and to Sc-Rb+/- samples. Our Microarray results show changes of many genes involved in cell cycle control, DNA repair, apoptosis and misregulation of genes that may be important for proper Sertoli cell function such as tight junction formation, cell membrane and tissue remodeling. Total RNA extracted from 12 testicular samples, 5 controls, 3 heterozygotes and 4 homozygotes.