Tao Kin Pong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-152). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter i. --- Cover page --- p.1 / Chapter ii. --- Table of contents --- p.2 / Chapter iii. --- Abstract of thesis (English version and Chinese Version) --- p.4 / Chapter iv. --- Acknowledgements --- p.8 / Chapter v. --- Abbreviations --- p.9 / Chapter 1. --- Introduction / Interstitial tissue and Leydig cells --- p.11 / Seminiferous tubules --- p.11 / "Male germ cell line and spermatogenesis (Mitotic, Meiotic and Post-meiotic)" --- p.12 / Sertoli cells --- p.14 / Specialized organizations of junction present in testis --- p.15 / Dynamic nature of Sertoli-Sertoli & Sertoli-germ cell junctions --- p.16 / Role of proteases and protease inhibitors in male gametogenesis --- p.17 / Proteases and Proteases Inhibitors expressed in testis --- p.18 / Hormonal control of spermatogenesis --- p.19 / Hypothyroidism and testis development --- p.21 / Genes to be studied: / Proteases --- p.22 / Proteases Inhibitors --- p.27 / Other spermatogenesis related genes --- p.30 / Chapter 2. --- Objectives --- p.32 / Chapter 3. --- Materials and Methods / Animal treatments and tissue collection --- p.33 / RNA preparation --- p.34 / RT-PCRs --- p.35 / Real-time PCRs --- p.35 / Data manipulations and Statistics --- p.36 / Primer sequences used in this experiment --- p.37 / Chapter 4. --- Results / "Effect of neonatal hypothyroidism on developmental profile of body weight, absolute and relative testicular weight" --- p.40 / Developmental transcription profiles of genes under normal and hypothyroidism --- p.43 / Screening Data --- p.78 / Expression of non-spermatogenic genes at neonatal age --- p.88 / Responsiveness of gene transcription after thyroxin replacement --- p.89 / Changes of gene expression under different hypothyroid regimens --- p.97 / Chapter 5. --- Discussion / Changes in testicular size under hypothyroidism --- p.107 / Five patterns of transcription profile --- p.107 / "Suggestion on the role of ""MEIOTIC"" proteases and inhibitors" --- p.111 / "Suggestion on the role of ""POST-MEIOTIC"" proteases and inhibitors" --- p.113 / "Explanations on ""SOMATIC"" genes" --- p.114 / "Explanations on ""MITOTIC"" genes" --- p.115 / Explanations on the un-clustered pattern --- p.116 / Explanations on the age down-regulated group --- p.116 / Proposed clustering of genes according to their transcription profile --- p.117 / "Expression of some ""non-spermatogenic"" genes before puberty" --- p.123 / Neonatal hypothyroidism as a model for studying reproductive physiology --- p.125 / Different components of spermatogenesis --- p.127 / Chapter I. --- Roles of nuclear and chromatin related genes in assisting meiosis --- p.128 / Chapter II. --- Roles of specific transcription regulators in assisting gene selection --- p.129 / Chapter III. --- Role of signal transduction molecules for translation and activation --- p.131 / Chapter IV. --- Role of proteases and inhibitors for matrix and junctions dynamics --- p.132 / The somatic proteases and inhibitors system in the testis --- p.133 / Spermatogenic proteases and inhibitors system --- p.134 / Chapter V. --- Role of matrix and junctional molecules in intercellular interactions --- p.137 / Chapter VI. --- Role of cytoplasmic motors in cellular movement --- p.139 / Chapter 6. --- Conclusion / Proposed story of spermatogenesis - involvement of proteases and inhibitors --- p.140 / Future Direction --- p.141 / Chapter 7. --- References --- p.144