Abstract
The inhibitor of apoptosis protein BIRC-5/survivin plays roles in both apoptosis and the regulation of chromosome-segregation/cytokinesis during mitosis. As the population dynamics of male germ cells are regulated by both proliferation (mitosis and meiosis) and apoptotic culling, we hypothesized that BIRC-5/survivin could be central to the regulation of spermatogenesis. We have analyzed BIRC-5/survivin expression throughout the seminiferous epithelial cycle of the rat. BIRC-5/survivin RNA and protein exhibit rhythms of expression throughout the seminiferous epithelial cycle. The highest levels of expression were found, by immunohisto-chemistry and in situ hybridization, to occur during the long first meiotic prophase of spermatocytes. Cytoplasmic abundance declined at metaphase and reappeared at anaphase. Some BIRC-5/survivin expression was also found to occur in interstitial Leydig cells. BIRC-5/survivin protein levels were up-regulated in vitro by the paracrine, Stem-Cell Factor, that is known to regulate both proliferation and apoptosis of germ cells and Leydig cells.