The morphological evaluation in azoospermia cases of testicular tubular tight junctions

Abstract

Testis possesses intrinsic mechanisms to modulate and regulate different stages of germ cell development under the intimate and indirect cooperation with Sertoli and Leydig cells [1]. In the seminiferous tubules the epithelium is physically divided into the adluminal compartment by the blood-testis barrier (BTB) which is constituted by adjacent Sertoli cells near the basement membrane. BTB is the crucial role to spermatogenesis. Spermatogenesis is a highly complicated process in which functional spermatozoa are generated from primitive mitotic spermatogonia. A compromise in this process can lead to infertility [2]. Tight junctions (TJs) at the site of the BTB function in the testis are maintained by intricate regulatory mechanisms.