Elevated cholesterol and dolichol synthesis in mouse pachytene spermatocytes.

Results are presented here which demonstrate that the rates of [14C]acetate incorporation into cholesterol and dolichol increased 4- to 5-fold as mouse spermatocytes matured from the preleptotene to prepuberal pachytene stages. The rate of acetate incorporation into cholesterol then decreased in late pachynema, remained low at all subsequent stages of meiosis, and was very low in mature sperm. In contrast, the rate of acetate incorporation into dolichol remained elevated in late pachytene spermatocytes and round spermatids, then decreased and remained low in mature sperm. The ratio of the rate of [14C]acetate incorporation into dolichol to the rate of incorporation into cholesterol increased during late meiotic prophase and remained high in round spermatids; this altered ratio is further evidence of independent regulation of dolichol and cholesterol synthesis in testes. It was shown previously that normal adult mouse testes incorporated acetate into dolichol at a much higher rate (1.8 to 2.4% of the rate of incorporation into cholesterol) than did testes from sterile W/Wv mice (0.02%) or X-irradiated mice (0.24%). This high rate of acetate incorporation into dolichol in adult testes is now attributed to differentiating spermatocytes, with particularly high rates being observed during pachynema.