The role of insulin 3, testosterone, Müllerian inhibiting substance and relaxin in rat gubernacular growth

Abstract

Transabdominal testicular descent is influenced by various anatomical and hormonal factors and is mediated by gubernacular enlargement and regression of the cranial suspensory ligament, but its mechanism remains controversial. The aim of this study was to determine which hormones have a direct effect on the proliferation of cells in the day 17 fetal rat gubernaculum in vitro, using an organ culture system. The effects of synthetic rat insulin 3 (INSL3), inactive INSL3, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), DHT + INSL3, human Müllerian inhibiting substance (hMIS), hMIS + INSL3 and human gene 2 relaxin were tested, together with co-culture with fetal rat testis. Cell proliferation was assessed using a br..