Increase in macrophages in the testis of cathepsin a deficient mice suggests an important role for these cells in the interstitial space of this tissue.

Cathepsin A (PPCA) is a lysosomal carboxypeptidase that functions as a protective protein for alpha-neuraminidase and beta-galactosidase in a multienzyme complex. In the present study, the testes of PPCA-/-mice from 2 to 10 months of age were compared with those of their wild type counterparts. While germ and Sertoli cells appeared comparable in appearance and distribution, the mean profile area of seminiferous tubules showed a significant decrease between wild type and PPCA-/-mice, suggesting changes to the seminiferous tubules and their contents. In addition, macrophages in the interstitial space (IS) of PPCA-/-mice were large, spherical, and filled with pale lysosomes, unlike those seen in wild type mice, and a quantitative analysis of their frequency per unit area of IS in PPCA-/- mice revealed a significant increase compared to that of wild type mice; this was also the case for their mean profile area. Absence of mitotic figures, cycling cells, or degenerating figures in the IS suggests that the major recruitment of macrophages appears to be from the circulation. In the IS, Leydig cells also showed an accumulation of large pale lysosomes in PPCA-/-mice, and their frequency also increased significantly as compared to wild type mice. In the electron microscope, a close association of Leydig cell microvilli with the surface of macrophages was pronounced in PPCA-/-mice. Since macrophages and Leydig cells interact by secreting various factors between each other, and considering the fact that Leydig cells show an accumulation of large pale lysosomes in PPCA-/-mice, it is suggested that macrophages accumulate as a result of abnormalities occurring in Leydig cells. Taken together, the data on increase in frequency of macrophages suggests important functions for these cells in both wild type and PPCA-/-mice. (C) 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.