Effect of conditions of three dimensional clinostating on testicular cell machinery.

Our scope was to study the effects of on ground random positioning machine rotation on swine testicular cells in culture. Cells of the 2n karyotype line, from trypsinized swine testes, were submitted to modeled microgravity (G) using a 3D RPM from 15min to 24h. The cultured cells were then fixed and submitted to immunohistochemistry using antibodies to steroid dehydrogenases, heat shock proteins and the sodium pump (Na+/K+ ATPase). The results revealed that, after 15 min at modeled G, all the cells showed damages at cytoskeletal level. The immunoreactions for 3HSD, 17HSD and Na+/K+ ATPase were almost abolished. After 24h of treatment, the presence of the enzymes was restored, and small heat shock proteins were strongly immunostainable. On the other hand, in the 1 × G cultures, the expression of HSPs was very weak. We conclude that modeled G by random positioning of cells affects testicular cells in culture for a short time, while the normal activity of the cells is restored after 24 h.