Rat seminiferous epithelia contains the signaling molecules ILK, FAK and Paxillin

During the process of spermatogenesis the seminiferous epithelia are extremely dynamic both in their overall morphology and their cytoskeletal structure. In many other systems including fibroblast cells, erythroid cells, B/T cells and some epithelial cells there is a coordinated system of signaling molecules that have been found to be responsible for regulating the cytoskeleton. We report here that antibodies to Integrin Linked Kinase (ILK), Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) and Paxillin cross react with appropriate bands on immunoblots of seminiferous epithelia and also react with epithelia from fixed frozen sections of testes. Preliminary observations indicate that ILK may occur in association with Sertoli cell junction sites known to contain β₁-Integrin. FAK, however, seems to be observed only in association with basal germ cells while Paxillin seems to be associated in a more apical position.