Follicle-Stimulating Hormone: Fertility and Beyond

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Mechanism of Action of FSH on Adipocytes. The newly described FSH signaling pathway opposes β3 adrenergic signaling. The latter is known to cause the transdifferentiation of white to beige adipocytes via interaction of the β3 receptor with a Gαs protein that stimulates cAMP production and activates the MAP kinase p38 and the transcription factor ATF2, which then translocates to the nucleus causing the transcriptional activation of the Ucp1 gene (98, 99). FSH opposes this action by interacting with a Gαi-coupled FSH receptor, also involving CREB-mediated pathway (9, 97).
Mini Review
19 March 2019
FSH Beyond Fertility
Daria Lizneva
10 more and 
Mone Zaidi
30,101 views
64 citations
Review
14 December 2018
Role of Follicle-Stimulating Hormone in Spermatogenesis
Olayiwola O. Oduwole
1 more and 
Ilpo T. Huhtaniemi
Effect of anti-androgen flutamide treatment on wild-type (WT) and genetically modified mice. (A,B) Testicular histology and macroscopic views of the testes and urogenital blocks of WT and Fshr-CAM/LuRKO mice. (A) The treatment arrested spermatogenesis at round spermatid stage in WT mice and reduced their testis and seminal vesicle sizes. (B) Identical treatment of Fshr-CAM/LuRKO mice had no apparent effect on their spermatogenesis and testis size but reduced seminal vesicle size (arrows in B). (C,D) Expression of selected target genes in untreated (A) and flutamide treated (B) mice. (A) Expression of androgen-regulated (Drd5, Rhox5, Eppin, and Tjp1), postmeiotic germ cell–specific (Aqp8), and germ cell–regulated (Gata1) genes in WT, Fshr-CAM, Fshr-CAM/LuRKO, and LuRKO testes. (B) Effect of flutamide treatment on expression of the same androgen-regulated genes in WT and Fshr-CAM/LuRKO mice. Data represent mean ± SEM. n = 3 samples/group. Bars with different symbols differ significantly from each other (P < 0.05; ANOVA/Newman-Keuls). The remarkable finding is that while flutamide treatment suppressed the expression of strictly androgen-dependent genes in WT mice, the same effect was not observed in the testis of Fshr-CAM/LuRKO mice. Scale bars: 50 μm. From (31) with permission.

Spermatogenesis is a concerted sequence of events during maturation of spermatogonia into spermatozoa. The process involves differential gene-expression and cell-cell interplay regulated by the key endocrine stimuli, i.e., follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH)-stimulated testosterone. FSH affects independently and in concert with testosterone, the proliferation, maturation and function of the supporting Sertoli cells that produce regulatory signals and nutrients for the maintenance of developing germ cells. Rodents are able to complete spermatogenesis without FSH stimulus, but its deficiency significantly decreases sperm quantity. Men carrying loss-of-function mutation in the gene encoding the ligand (FSHB) or its receptor (FSHR) present, respectively, with azoospermia or suppressed spermatogenesis. Recently, the importance of high intratesticular testosterone concentration for spermatogenesis has been questioned. It was established that it can be completed at minimal intratesticular concentration of the hormone. Furthermore, we recently demonstrated that very robust constitutive FSHR action can rescue spermatogenesis and fertility of mice even when the testosterone stimulus is completely blocked. The clinical relevance of these findings concerns a new strategy of high-dose FSH in treatment of spermatogenic failure.

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