ISSN: 2044-9038 (Print) 2044-9046 (Electronic)

Clinical Practice

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Germ cells represent the largest cell population in the adult testis. They are traditionally considered immune response triggers, and are protected from detrimental immune attack by the immunoprivileged microenvironment. However, immature male germ cells secrete proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1α and TNF (Haugen et al., 1994; De et al., 1993). Germ cells also express antiviral proteins in response to IFN stimulation (Melaine et al., 2003). These early observations suggested that male germ cells may regulate immune responses and possess innate antiviral abilities. The mechanisms underlying the innate immune activities of germ cells are emerging. Spermatogonia and spermatocytes constitutively express TLR3 and initiate innate antiviral responses (Wang et al., 2012). MDA5 is expressed in spermatids and initiates innate antiviral responses (Zhu et al., 2013). Moreover, spermatids also express TLR11 and initiate innate immune responses to uropathogenic Escherichia coli and Toxoplasma gondii stimulations (Chen et al., 2014). Low levels of TLR2, TLR4, and various NLRs are also detected in some stages of germ cells in rats (Bhushan et al., 2008), but their functions remain to be clarified. The innate immune responses in Sertoli and germ cells could be particularly important in defense against invading microbes from ascending genitourinary tracts because immune components in the interstitial spaces are limited to the adluminal compartments of the seminiferous tubules due to the BTB.    

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