An extracellular vesicle-mediated mitochondrial transfer network critical for testosterone synthesis - PubMed
5 hours ago
- #extracellular vesicles
- #mitochondrial transfer
- #testosterone synthesis
- Testicular Leydig cells (LCs) produce testosterone, a process that is energetically demanding and prone to mitochondrial damage.
- LCs exhibit longevity and minimal turnover, suggesting specialized mechanisms for mitochondrial homeostasis.
- A mitochondrial transfer network exists between LCs and testicular macrophages (tMacs).
- LCs release extracellular vesicles containing defective mitochondria, which are eliminated by CD206hi tMacs in a TREM2-dependent process.
- Deletion of Trem2 in tMacs disrupts mitochondrial transfer, impairing testosterone synthesis.
- LCs acquire extracellular vesicles with functional mitochondria from MHCIIhi tMacs via ITGβ1-VCAM1 interactions.
- Loss of Vcam1 in LCs hinders mitochondrial transfer, compromising testosterone production.
- The study reveals a critical mitochondrial transfer network between LCs and tMacs, essential for LC homeostasis and testosterone production.